Whispers of Grace
Walking with God is filled with mountaintops and valleys. Join passionate yet flawed Jesus-lover and mother of four Julie Colbeth as she delves into the Scriptures with a refreshingly honest perspective that will bring hope and encouragement to your day.
Whispers of Grace
Beyond the Ash Heap: How Our Pain Can Become God's Platform
*Special Episode- Session #1 from a Women's retreat I recently taught.
What happens when our world collapses around us? When suffering strikes without warning or explanation, our response reveals what truly lives in our hearts. Through the powerful contrasting stories of Job and Jonah, this episode explores the fundamental question: how can we glorify God through our pain?
The glory of God—His honour, reverence, and splendor—isn't just some abstract concept. For believers, Scripture tells us we've become living temples containing God's glory at all times. Yet our actions and attitudes can either reveal or veil this divine presence. The crucial difference lies not in experiencing pain (both Job and Jonah suffered), but in how we process that pain—with God or apart from Him.
Job lost everything—his children, wealth, health, and reputation—yet initially responded with astonishing faith: "The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord." Even when questioning God through his suffering, Job kept bringing his heartache directly to God. When God finally appeared, Job immediately repented and was restored to a place of honour as an intercessor. Contrast this with Jonah, who technically obeyed God's command to preach to Nineveh but remained bitter when God showed mercy to his enemies. Jonah missed participating in a beautiful revival because he couldn't surrender his anger and judgment.
Where are you fixing your eyes when life falls apart? On yourself? On others? Or on Jesus? The answer determines not whether God will be glorified—He will be regardless—but whether you'll experience the profound joy of participating in His redemptive work. Today, make the choice to bring your wounds to the Healer rather than nursing them in isolation. Your pain might just become the very platform where God's glory shines brightest.
Kiora, and welcome to Whispers of Grace, a place for women to be encouraged by God's holy word. I'm your host, julie Colbeth, and I am over for women to be encouraged by God's Holy Word. I'm your host, julie Colbeth, and I am overjoyed to dig into the Bible with you today. Hello everybody, and welcome back to Whispers of Grace. I know it's been a while since I've put anything up. We've had some exciting life changes over here that I've needed to just pause and reconnect with the Lord and take some space. But I was so blessed last weekend to be invited to speak at a women's conference and I taught two of the sessions and they were wonderful. I had such a good time with these women and it reminded me how much I love to teach to a group of people, because it's more interactive and I feed off the audience, and I really should have recorded those sessions then, but I didn't. But I had a few requests that said Can you please go back and record this and put it on the podcast for me? So this is my labor of love for you. I will do these sessions again, but it's probably going to be a bit different, because when I study and record for the podcast. I'm very specific and careful about the things that I say and it's much more scripted in the thought over, which is why it takes me such a long time to do it. But today is going to be much more like when I teach live, where I've just got a set of notes that are not comprehensive and I'm just kind of following where the Spirit leads. So if it feels a bit different, that is why, yeah, but this retreat, the theme of it, was Psalm 115.1. It says Not unto us, o Lord, not unto us, but to your name give glory because of your mercy and because of your truth. So the theme of the retreat was glorifying God. And as I was studying and praying about this, the Lord really put two specific stories to kind of compare and contrast, to learn about how to glorify God.
Julie Colbeth:So what does it mean to glorify God? The Hebrew word glory means to honor or to reverence, to bring glory or dignity. It can also be used for wealth or splendor and, as my friend Gemma said, it's to make God famous or to shine a spotlight on him. And back in the Old Testament, when we saw the glory of God, it was that Shekinah. It was the glory of God that would came to dwell with the people of Israel. It kind of settled in among them and it stayed there and, if you remember, all the way back to the tabernacle, which is kind of we were walking through that now in the life of Moses, but in the tabernacle, when the glory of God came, it settled right into the heart of the tabernacle in the Holy of Holies, that glowing ball of light, that was the glory of God that came and settled with them.
Julie Colbeth:And it's amazing because the Israelites had the glory of God. They could look and see it. They had a pillar of cloud, a pillar of fire that would follow them around. They had manna from heaven. They had all these physical representations of God all around them. God was doing miracles and doing amazing things.
Julie Colbeth:Yet over and over again, we see Israel doubting him, losing their faith, not being willing to walk into the promised land, even though they see God, which is interesting because even though his glory was with them, it didn't always inspire them to have true faith or to even walk in faithfulness. So I want to look at what that looks like today, because we don't have the tangible Shekinah of God. But First, corinthians 316 tells us do you not know that you are the temple of God, that you are the temple of God and that the spirit of God dwells in you. So, although we may not have the temple or the tabernacle anymore, the word of God tells us that we ourselves have become the tabernacle. We have become that temple that literally, physically, contains the glory of God If you are a believer and you've accepted Jesus Christ to be your master. So this is our state of being. We have the glory of God within us at all times when we're sleeping, when we're awake, when we're at work, when we lose our temper, when we're frustrated, when we're at church, when we're distracted, when we're scrolling too much on social media, the glory of God is dwelling within us. It's with us. So how is it that, if we bodily have the glory of God, that sometimes we can block or veil that peace of God with our actions and in our flesh? So the question is, how do we make him known? If we can veil his glory and if it cannot be seen through our lives and our actions and our words, what do we need to do to make the glory of God known and seen by others? So, in order to glorify God, or to glorify anything. We have to cease to glorify ourselves. So if we want to glorify God, we can't be glorifying ourselves.
Julie Colbeth:And in talking about this I want to talk about an amazing figure in the Bible, job. So I'm sure many of us are familiar with Job's story. It's one of the oldest books of the Bible that we have. It's long before the law was given. This man walked with God. So if you're not familiar with his story, I would encourage you to turn to the book of Job and read about it, because it's incredible. But essentially there was this faithful, godly man on the earth that was super wealthy but loved God. It said that he offered sacrifices for his children and was committed to the Lord.
Julie Colbeth:And then we see this kind of heavenly scene where Satan comes and has this conversation with God about Job and God says to him have you considered my servant, job? And Satan essentially challenges God and said oh, of course he's faithful to you. Look how much he has. He's wealthy, and you've blessed him and you haven't let anybody do anything nasty or mean to this dude. Of course he loves you. And God says well, let's put it to the test and see. You can test him. You can test him, you can try him.
Julie Colbeth:So Satan comes and he essentially destroys Job's entire life. The Chaldeans sweep in and steal his cattle. His children die, all of his possessions are taken away, pretty much just with it. Within one day, all of these things happen and Job loses almost everything in his life that's precious to him, except for his wife, who was still around, to later say to him Job, why don't you curse God and die? Not such a surprise that Satan left her around, but this amazing man lost everything. And then at the end of it it says that he's just sitting on this ash heap the ash heap of his life, possibly, where his children lost their lives, and his skin is breaking out with boils and he's sitting there in sackcloth and ashes and he's scraping his wounds with this broken pottery. So we have this picture of this man who went from the highest mountain to the lowest valley in such a short amount of time and through all of this, job did not actually sin against God.
Julie Colbeth:Job 1.22,. This is what Job says. After the loss of his children and his possessions and all of these things, job falls on the ground and he worships and he says naked I came from my mother's womb and naked, I will depart. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away. May the name of the Lord be praised. So I don't understand that kind of faith in this man. But God took everything from him and he still understood who God was and who he was in light of it and he accepted it.
Julie Colbeth:Later on, like I said, job's wife comes to him and says Job, why don't you just curse God and die like be done with it all? And Job 2, 10 tells us this is what job said shall we accept good from god and not trouble in all this? Job did not sin in what he said. So again, this deep understanding in this man that he accepted good and he also accepted trouble. Job understood his place and he understood god's real place, god as the giver, the ultimate authority, who is sovereign over all things, blessing and adversity. And Job realized that he didn't have any entitlements, he didn't bring anything into the world and he knew he could take nothing out. So we have this really deep understanding.
Julie Colbeth:And again, this glorifies God, Because a man that can walk through this much trouble and strain and loss and heartache and still give God the glory, that only is a work of God in somebody's heart, because our flesh does not do that. So, job, he started out strong, but as time wore on you know, know the days and the weeks and the months sitting on this ash heap covered in boils his friends finally come to him and they're just the worst comforters in the world, because all they do is spout this bad theology that I hear reflected in the world a lot today. They start to Job if only you would confess your sin, then you could be forgiven and you can get your things back, or maybe God would just let you die. So his friends tell him straight up the reason you have lost all of these things, the reason you are in pain, the reason that you are suffering, is because you have sinned against God. Now we know from the word that this is absolute rubbish. This is corrupt theology that tends to draw people away from God, but yet our hearts go there.
Julie Colbeth:Very often when we struggle, it's Lord, what have I done? Or, in the adverse case, lord, I have done so much for you, I have been so faithful. Why have you done this to me? And we kind of have these entitlements, as though God owes us a good life, god owes us health, god owes us prosperity. God owes us all the things we're praying for. So these friends come and start to say these things to Job. So these friends come and start to say these things to Job, and Job and his friends go on and on and on for chapters and chapters, and chapters, back and forth, with the friends throwing these accusations and Job defending himself and saying no, I have been righteous, there is nothing hidden in my life, there's no sins around the corner that I'm keeping. My life has been clean and has been honest. I did nothing to deserve what's happened to me.
Julie Colbeth:But we see Job start to question why God has abandoned him, because he doesn't understand it himself, and I think the bad theology and counsel of these friends really starts to tear him down. And Job starts to insist that his own righteousness certainly demands a better treatment. He complains to God in chapter 13 and says oh that I knew where I might come and find him, that I might come to his seat. I would lay my case before him and fill my mouth with arguments. So here we see Job start to be a bit contradictory to his first. Statements were that he didn't expect anything from God, but now he's starting to say God, where are you? I want to come before your throne and lay my case down before you and fill my mouth with arguments. He continues on in chapter 13 to say why are not times of judgment kept by the Almighty, and why do those who know him never see his days? So he starts to have this unrest. And yet at the same time, in Job 13, 15, he says though he slay me, yet I will trust him. So Job has this deep understanding that only God is God. He's not going to rebel and walk away from him, because where would he go. But he is still questioning why these things have happened to him. And then he goes on to curse the day of his birth and he just bemoans his situation and he's pouring out his anguish and his sorrow and his pain before God. And then, after all of this, god actually shows up.
Julie Colbeth:In Job 38.3,. God actually comes down to speak to Job and he says gird up your loins like a man. I will question you and you shall declare to me. So then God comes on the scene and he doesn't come and answer any of Job's questions. He doesn't tell him why he lost his family. He doesn't tell him why his servants were all carried off or killed. He doesn't tell him why he lost his livestock and all of his wealth or in his health. God doesn't answer Job's questions like Job was wanting. God just comes and tells him about creation. God asks him questions like where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Job, where does light dwell and where does darkness go? And he goes into all of these creatures, the ostrich and the jackal and he goes through all of these different animals and asks Job questions about how they give birth and how the land is renewed and all of these questions about nature. And God is essentially saying if you're going to be God's critic but you don't have the answers to these things, how simple are you? Job 40, verse 2, says this do you still want to argue with the Almighty? Are you God's critic? But do you have the answers? So God is showing up and showing Job that he doesn't have any of the answers to these most basic questions. Yet he thinks he can put God on trial for what God has allowed in Job's life. And it is in this moment that Job repents.
Julie Colbeth:In Job, chapter 40, verses three to five, it says Then Job replied to the Lord I am nothing. How could I ever find the answers? I will cover my mouth with my hand. I have said too much already and I have nothing more to say. So here we see Job with more understanding. He is centered again. Job acknowledges once again the sovereignty of God, that God is just too big and too perfect and too powerful for Job to comprehend and for Job to put into a tiny box of cause and effect in his life. And he does something amazing here, because he immediately repents. He repents in dust and ashes and he admits his mistakes. He admits that his mouth ran away with him, that he had far too many words to say about what happened to him, and it's it's really beautiful to see how humble his heart is.
Julie Colbeth:Job 42, one through eight says then Job replied to the Lord, I know that you can do anything and that no one can stop you. You asked who is this that questions my wisdom with such ignorance? It is I, and I was talking about things. I knew nothing about things far too wonderful for me. You said listen and I will speak. I have some questions for you and you must answer them. I had only heard about you before, but now I have seen you with my own eyes. I take back everything I said and I sit in dust and ashes to show my repentance. After the Lord had finished speaking to Job, he said to Eliphaz the Temanite I am angry with you and your two friends, for you have not spoken accurately about me as my servant Job has. So take seven bulls and seven rams and go to my servant Job and offer a burnt offering for yourselves. My servant Job will pray for you and I will accept his prayer on your behalf. I will not treat you as you deserve, for you have not spoken accurately about me as my servant Job has. Servant Job has.
Julie Colbeth:In this section we see a repentant Job for his doubt and for the fact that he thought he could put God on trial. Job repents and God immediately asks him to serve as a priest, as an intercessor between his friends these poor counselors that had this bad theology and God. So we see something absolutely beautiful happen here. We see Job glorify God, I think in his honesty, the fact that he poured his heart and his soul out through all of these chapters because of this deep, dark pain that he was experiencing. But the whole time he was bringing these requests to God. He didn't turn his back on God and walk the other way and tell everyone else all of these troubles in his heart and make all these questions to the world or go badmouth God or turn away from him. Job brought all of these deep questions and this deep anguish, his misunderstanding and his pain to the Lord. I think this is key in Job's story in glorifying God. When he walked through pain and suffering and deep, deep, unimaginable loss, he did it with God. He brought all of those emotions and frustrations and all of that in his heart that was stored up. He brought it to the Lord. There is so much that we can learn here and how to glorify God in our pain from this man. Because we need to do it with, because we need to do it with Jesus. He is the sovereign one who has the answers. He is the only one that understands the depth of our pain. Yet so often we turn our back and we want to mourn without him, we want to struggle without him, we want to question or doubt, we want to have all of these crises of faith, but we want to do it without him instead of doing it with him. We want to question or doubt, we want to have all of these crises of faith, but we want to do it without him instead of doing it with him.
Julie Colbeth:God invites us into a relationship For those of us that are married or have really good friendships. We fight, we come with disagreements, we have deep issues, sometimes that take years to solve, things that can follow you around for a long time. We don't set those things aside and ignore them. That is just setting yourself up for a really poor relationship, for deep, deep caverns that will eventually destroy the relationship. We understand that in our relationships with people, or if we don't, then that's probably why we have trouble with our relationships with people. Or if we don't, then that's probably why we have trouble with our relationships with people, because we've got all these pockets of bitterness and pockets of unforgiveness in our heart that have just lived there for such a long time. We just continue to ignore them. If you have a storage place of all of this pain and anger and unforgiveness, it's really hard to be open and honest with somebody and it's impossible to trust them.
Julie Colbeth:So in our relationships, we know that we have to work through these things with one another, but for some reason we apply different rules with the Lord, we feel like, because he's holy and because he's God, we can't bring him our doubt, we can't bring him our anger, we cannot bring him anything except for faith and right hearts. But that's not true, because God knows every thought that is in your heart. He knows all of your pain. He knows all of your struggles. God is well acquainted with all of your doubt and with your rage. He knows every piece of it and he asks us to bring it to him when we act like the only heart that we can bring God is one that we're proud of. We have misunderstood our relationship with God, because he makes space for us to be fleshly, for us to be fallen, for us to be human. That is why he is God fleshly, for us to be fallen, for us to be human. That is why he is God, and he expects us to come and hold his hand, like a little child that doesn't understand what's happening, and cling to him for the answers. And I think that's one of the things that Job glorified God in so much in his struggles and in his life. And, yes, his mouth runs away with him in that he's calling God to account for the actions that have happened to him, but he does it with God, which is, I think, why when Job repents here, the Lord immediately puts him in the place of a servant and an intercessor and a priest.
Julie Colbeth:God is saying my servant, job, will act as the intercessor for his three friends that thought that they were holy and righteous and on the right path, but actually had pulled all of these wrong conclusions about the character of God. Their theology was crooked, which is why they needed to repent. Job was in a perfect place to act as an intercessor because he knew what worship really was. Job had a beautifully honest relationship with God. He kept talking to the Lord through his pain, and Job was acquainted with his own sins and he was very quick to repent. When God showed up and showed Job who he was, job humbled himself before the Lord.
Julie Colbeth:Now, that is glorifying to God, because we are not always going to get it right. We are going to say things that are wrong. Our theology is sometimes going to be off. Our hearts will certainly lead us astray, and, over and, over and over again, we are going to need off. Our hearts will certainly lead us astray and, over and, over and over again, we are going to need to repent. We need to understand that about ourselves and the best place to do that is right before the Lord. Now I want to take what we've just read and kind of absorbed about Job and I want to contrast and compare it with the life of Jonah, because it's really interesting to put the two of these men side by side and kind of see how God is glorified and how he's not, because I think there's such a beautiful heart difference between the two of these men, because we know that God is glorified and God is honored through obedience.
Julie Colbeth:1 John 14 15 says if you love me, keep my commands. James 1 22 says do not merely listen to the word and so deceive yourselves, do what it says. So there's no getting around obedience. If we claim that we are blood-bought believers of Christ, we need to obey the Lord. Yes, we will make mistakes, we will fall, we will stumble. He knows that. But it says if you love me, you'll keep my commands. That talks about a godly repentance and an obedience. So obedience is essential. But I want to take a look at Jonah, who technically did obey God in the end but I think had the most corrupt heart. So if you are following along in your Bible, you can flip over to the book of Jonah. If not, I will walk you through it.
Julie Colbeth:The book of Jonah, chapter one, says Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah, the son of Amittai, saying Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry out against it, for their wickedness has come up before me. God comes and speaks to this guy. The voice of God is telling him to do something. He tells him to get up and to go to Nineveh, which is an incredibly pagan society. Verse three says but Jonah arose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. So essentially, god tells Jonah, go to Nineveh. And Jonah goes the exact opposite direction. He hops on a boat and flees Just peace out, god, I'm not going there. And goes the exact opposite direction. He hops on a boat and flees Just peace out, god, I'm not going there. And goes the opposite way. So direct disobedience.
Julie Colbeth:But as soon as they get out to sea, a giant storm comes and all of the sailors are wondering what do we do? We're all going to die. And even these pagan sailors come and wake Jonah up and say hey, call on your God, maybe he'll save us. And they cast lots and the short lot falls to Jonah. So they know that there's something going on with this guy. And Jonah says I'm a Hebrew. I fear the Lord and the God of heaven. He's the one who made the sea and everything that's all around. I've disobeyed him. If you chuck me into the ocean, the storm will stop. So can you imagine being this disobedient prophet? You're on this boat. You thought you were getting away, but now there's this massive storm that comes and you know it's over. Just throw me into the ocean and I'm going to die. I can't imagine. I've seen movies of these great storms that happened.
Julie Colbeth:Being thrown into that cold, dark water is absolutely terrifying. And he's in this water. He's getting thrashed around by these raves and I wonder how long it was before he realized that he was actually swallowed by this giant fish, because he must have been super disoriented, just thrashing around in the water like not knowing what to do. And then it says that God prepares a fish that come and swallows this man whole. Now I know to our modern minds that seems so impossible, but the Bible tells us that it happened.
Julie Colbeth:Now something incredible it happens here, at the end of chapter one. It says now the lord had prepared a great fish to swallow, jonah. And jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights. Can you imagine three days and three nights in utter darkness, no sounds, except maybe the gurgling digestion that's happening inside of this animal? You're inside of a whale's belly. The stomach acid is eating away at his skin. It says that he's covered in seaweed and there's all of these like nasty smells. Can you imagine thinking do I eat? Do I not eat? Where am I? Is this ever going to end?
Julie Colbeth:And in that pitch black state it took him three days and three nights before he called out to God. That was how stubborn and angry this man was, because in verse 17, it tells us that Jonah was in the belly of the fish for three days and three nights. And then Jonah prayed to the Lord, his God, from the fish's belly. Can you imagine being that dead set against what God wanted to do? God gave him a really simple instruction go to Nineveh and cry out against them. He said no, so hard that he ran the opposite direction, was willing to die and be thrown in the ocean and then suffered for three days and three nights in the belly of a fish before he was willing to humble himself and cry out to God. Now this is a man that is eaten up with hatred, with anger, with bitterness. He absolutely despises these people in Nineveh. That is how hard his heart is. But he eventually gets to the point where he prays to the Lord from the fish's belly. This is what he says.
Julie Colbeth:I cry out to the Lord because of my affliction, and he answered me Out of the belly of Sheol. I cried and you heard my voice, for you cast me into the deep, into the heart of the seas, and the floods surrounded me. All your billows and your waves passed over me, and then I said I have been cast out of your sight. Yet I will look again toward your holy temple. The water surrounded me, even to my soul, and the deep closed around me. Weeds were wrapped around my head. I went down to the moorings of the mountains. The earth with its bars closed behind me forever. Yet you have brought my life from the pit. O, my Lord. When my soul fainted within me, I remembered the Lord and my prayer went up to you, into your holy temple. Those who regard worthless idols forsake their own mercy, but I will sacrifice to you With the voice of thanksgiving. I will pay what I have vowed. Salvation is of the Lord.
Julie Colbeth:So we see this beautiful, heartfelt prayer. That is an awesome parallel of Jesus. But it's interesting because the only reason that he's repenting is because he's in this situation. He can't change right. He's in the belly of this fish and we'll see this reflected as we continue to read through the story. But in chapter 2, verse 10, it says so. The Lord spoke to the fish and it vomited Jonah onto dry land.
Julie Colbeth:And the word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time saying arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and preach to it the message that I tell you. So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh. So I can imagine this man looked and smelled terrifying. He probably had white gross. You know your fingers get pruney, like when you're in the water for a long time. Can you imagine that over a whole body that's just been like sitting in stomach acid of a whale for all this time, like it just probably was disgusting, and he smelled like who knows what and he just got vomited up on a beach. And God tells him let's try this again. Go to Nineveh and tell them what I'm going to tell you. It says so. Jonah arose and went to Nineveh according to the word of the Lord. So now he's obeying, right, like we talked about at the beginning of the section, that obedience that is critical. Now, nineveh was an exceedingly great city, a three-day journey in extent, and Jonah began to enter the city on his first day walk. And then he cried out and said yet 40 days and Nineveh shall be overthrown. That's it Really simple message, right? 40 days, nineveh is going to be overthrown. He just walks through the city and pronounces this, and this is what God does.
Julie Colbeth:In chapter three, verse five, it says so the people of Nineveh believed God. They proclaimed a fast and they put on sackcloth, from the greatest to the least, even the king puts on sackcloth and repents in dust and ashes. And the king tells everyone don't eat or drink anything. Everybody needs to be clothed in sackcloth and cry out to this mighty God because maybe, just maybe, he will relent and turn away and not kill us all. And then, in verse 10, it says then God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way, and God relented from the disaster that he had said he would bring upon them. And he did not do it. So we see the compassionate, amazing heart of God and that these people who had lived an incredibly wicked life, but at this simple word from this prophet, they all repented. So their sins had reached so high that God was ready to destroy them. But because they truly repented in dust and ashes, this glorious, gracious, good, compassionate God was ready to forgive them. Forgave them Now.
Julie Colbeth:That is a beautiful story in and of itself, but what I want to focus on is the prophet In Jonah, chapter four. It says this, but it displeased Jonah exceedingly and he became angry. So Jonah watches God's work because only God could bring a nation to repentance with just this simple statement. Right, I'm sure Jonah was creepy to look at. He was probably this like freaky smelling fish man walking through this town, essentially saying if you don't repent, you're all going to die.
Julie Colbeth:But the spirit of God fell and literal revival is breaking out. People are repenting and turning to the one true God, which is the biggest thing that we can rejoice at as children of God. Right is when people turn from darkness and enter into light. This should be the thing that we can always rejoice at, regardless of who it is. But yet we see Jonah's heart, the bitterness, the anger, the rage, the unforgiveness, the judgment. The callous heart of Jonah here is angry. He's watching revival bloom before his eyes. He's getting to be the messenger that brings revival, and yet he is angry.
Julie Colbeth:It said that it displeased Jonah exceedingly. And then this is Jonah's response in chapter four, verse two and so he prayed to the Lord. Ah Lord, was not this what I said when I was still in my country? Therefore, I fled previously to Tarshish, for I know that you are gracious and merciful, god, slow to anger and abundant in loving kindness, one who relents from doing harm. So Jonah prays and says this is the reason why I left. This is why I decided to go the opposite direction that you told me to go in, because I knew who you were. I knew that you were gracious and merciful and slow to anger, abundant in loving kindness, and that you would relent from doing harm. That right, there is next level. Jonah was willing to disobey God because he knew that God would offer forgiveness. Can you imagine the type of heart that says I knew that you were compassionate and gracious and I wasn't willing to let you show all of that to these wicked people that I hate because I want them to all die.
Julie Colbeth:This guy is so bitter, he is so, so deep in his sin that he cannot even rejoice over the repentance of these people. He goes on and says in verse three therefore now, oh Lord, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live Now. He would rather die than see his enemies come to faith in God. Then God comes to him and says is it right for you to be so angry? He's just asking the question, jonah, what's happening in your heart? Is it a right thing, are you feeling a righteous anger here that I've shown compassion?
Julie Colbeth:In verse 5, it says so Jonah went out of the city and sat on the east side, and there he made himself a shelter and sat in it under the shade so he might see what would become of the city. So now he's sulking like a little kid. He made this little shelter outside the city and he's sulking like a little kid. So he made this little shelter outside the city and he's sitting back waiting. He's just hoping for the fire of God to come and devour this place and the sun comes out and it gets hot, and it says that the Lord prepared a little plant and it comes over Jonah and it gives him some shade for his head because God takes compassion on him that he's sitting in this miserable mopey state. He sends this plant to give him some shade. And it says that Jonah was so grateful for this plant. But as the morning started to dawn the next day, it says that God prepared a worm, so the worm came and damaged the plant so that the plant withered, so now there's no more shade over Jonah's head and the sun came up. And it says that there was this crazy east wind and the sun beat on Jonah's head so that he grew faint and he wished again that he would die.
Julie Colbeth:This is just this reminds me of a toddler, like a toddler that's in timeout, going through all of these emotions, like the angry, you know, pounding and kicking the floor and screaming, and the rage like how dare you, god? And then the quiet sulking of like hugging their knees and like looking at you with the daggers in their eyes, and then, just like you know, all those waves of emotion. I just see Jonah going through this. This is a man that God picked to be his mouthpiece. It's just wild to see this little rant that's happening.
Julie Colbeth:And then God comes to him again in verse nine and says then God said to Jonah is it right for you to be so angry? He asks him again to contemplate what he's feeling Again. To contemplate what he's feeling Because God has given us emotions for a reason. When we have anger in our heart, it's supposed to tell us something. It's not just oh, don't be angry, I'm a Christian, I'm not supposed to feel like that.
Julie Colbeth:God comes to Jonah twice now and says is it right for you to be angry? That anger, it's like an indicator on your dashboard in your car. When the oil light goes off, it means you need to check the oil. You can't just turn the light off on the dashboard and think you're good. You need to check what's happening on the inside of the engine. So God is saying Jonah, check your anger. The light is flashing. What's going on in your heart? He's giving Jonah opportunities to repent, but he's not taking them Because Jonah responds to God it is right for me to be angry, even to death. So yet again, he will not repent.
Julie Colbeth:And then God says at the end of this book but the Lord said you have had pity on the plant for which you didn't labor and or make it grow, which came up in a night and it perished in a night. And should I not pity Nineveh, that great city in which are more than 120,000 persons who can't discern between their right and their left hands, and much livestock? This is where the book ends, jonah's still unrepentant and God telling him hey, jonah, you're really, you're more upset about this little plant than you are about this giant city of Nineveh. And the Lord points out here, it says there are more than 120,000 persons who can't discern between their right and their left hand, who can't discern between their right and their left hand, children, god is reminding Jonah hey, even if all of this makes you so angry, there are thousands of children and livestock. It says, that don't even know they're right from their left hand. They can't even have angered you, they haven't even chosen to be wicked yet. Yes, they've been born into this wicked nation, or the animals. They didn't choose where they were going to be. So these are innocents, god's pointing out. There are innocents in the city and I chose to take compassion on them, jonah. There are innocents in the city and I chose to take compassion on them, jonah. And the sad state of affairs is that Jonah still would rather die than even show compassion on these children, and we don't. That's all we get. That's how the book ends.
Julie Colbeth:Now this is not usually the way that we hear it in Sunday school. Now there is so many different ways that we could go and so many things that we could draw out of the story, but what I really want to focus on is the glorification of God. So now I asked this question at the retreat and everybody looked at me with questioning faces. Now, was God glorified? Did he receive glory? Now, that's a confusing. It's a confusing question really, because yes, he absolutely did receive glory. Because we read that revival is sparked, right, so God is glorified.
Julie Colbeth:Obedience, even though it was a begrudging obedience, an obedience that never touched his heart. But in this instance, I think God was glorified despite Job. Right. Like God can use a donkey to speak truth, god can use a pagan king, somebody filled with wickedness, to proclaim truth. Even the demons know that God is who he is and tremble. The messenger doesn't have to be pure and perfect, because the message is what carries the power. It is the God of that message. So God was glorified in that Nineveh repented, revival broke out and there was real, real repentance.
Julie Colbeth:Jonah could have taken this opportunity to dive in. He could have said you know what? I'm going back in there, I'm going to teach these people who the real God is. Guess what. Here's what we know about him. Here's what's happened to the patriarchs in the past. Here's his character.
Julie Colbeth:He could have shown them who God was, but he missed out. He chose to stay stuck in his bitterness, in his anger, in his own wicked, wicked heart that he missed out on being a part of a revival. He didn't get to partake of that glory. He pouted, he sulked, he was like an angsty teenager the whole way. So God was glorified because God is God, and even through our disobedience he is glorified. Even through a broken and corrupt world that can be filled with pain and wickedness, god is glorified because he is God. He is so far above all of those things that he can still receive glory even in the brokenness. But Jonah did not get to partake of this part of God's glory, and that is a sad shame, because I bet you I don't know what happened after this. We don't know. This is as far as we get with the book, but this man missed out, whereas when we look at Job. Job entered in, job suffered and Job's heart was torn apart. But because he brought it to God and he repented when he was shown to be wrong, he got to partake of the glory with God. But Jonah, even through his begrudging obedience, missed out.
Julie Colbeth:Are you missing out on the works of God because you have a broken heart, because you are angry, because you are bitter, because you are not willing to offer forgiveness to those people or to that person, or because you are holding on to something that is not your burden to bear? Holding on to something that is not your burden to bear? Now, the thing that we can take away from this is to be where that nasty root of bitterness, unforgiveness, of anger and that is exactly what Satan wants is for these deep, dark veins to just nestle themselves in our heart so that we can see the works of God and not even have a heart to rejoice in them. Colossians 3.2 tells us set your mind on things that are above, not on things that are on the earth. Second Corinthians 4.18 says so we fix our eyes not on what is seen but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary but what is unseen is eternal. I think these two verses give us a key to success here, because we can get stuck, we get hurt. I think some of the wounds that we carry around will be scars with us till the day that we die. And just because we've forgiven someone does not mean that that scar completely goes away. I think we can be hurt very, very deeply and I don't want to act like forgiveness is such a simple thing or that whatever happened to you is small, because in many cases it's not.
Julie Colbeth:I think about Corrie ten Boom, who's one of my favorite people to think about and remember. This woman who walked through the Holocaust and survived, but she was abused and mistreated. She saw so many people that she loved and cared for die at the hand of the Nazis, and yet she came through it and was able to offer forgiveness to the people around her that caused that kind of harm. Now, that is something that only God can do, but that story brings so much glory to God and I think it has to do with where Corrie ten Boom was fixing her eyes, with where Job was fixing his eyes.
Julie Colbeth:If we look at ourselves, we are going to be discouraged. If we look at others, if we look at the world. We're going to be discouraged If we keep looking at our pain. We're going to be discouraged, but if we look at Jesus, we will find healing, we will find hope, we will find courage. We will find a reason to wake up tomorrow, even in the midst of the pain and the trials.
Julie Colbeth:Now I am not disparaging counseling or really looking at your pain, because I think that is essential to be healed from it. You can't avoid it either. You can't just lock it into a deep, dark dungeon and hope that it heals. I think you need to open up those doors and let it air out. God's got to get in there and do some healing, and sometimes you need to talk your way through all of that garbage that's been buried for such a long time, and I think that is good and healing.
Julie Colbeth:But who are we fixing our eyes on? Are we looking at ourselves? Are we fixing our eyes on ourselves? Because I know sometimes we get so fixated on our own actions, what we did right and what we didn't, and keeping a score and a tally and little boxes, and that is what we get so obsessed with. Or we look at others. Are they approving of us? Are they doing what's right and we like to judge, judge, judge and point the finger. We look at others are they approving of us, are they doing what's right? And we like to judge, judge, judge and point the finger and look at everybody else again. This will distract us, it will get us off path. But if we fix our eyes on Jesus, if we can set our mind on things above I think of the thermostat in the house you can just set it at the temperature that you want the house to be and when it goes too low or it goes too high, it corrects it right, it sets it in one place. That's how we're supposed to fix our eyes on Jesus. That's the kind of setting that it's talking about. If we're looking at Jesus, he can heal us, he can show us who he is again, because that's what cured Job.
Julie Colbeth:Job had all of these doubts and pains and all of his inner anguish, and God showed up and just told him about what he did, just on creation. Just a few chapters about what God does, and it was enough to heal Job's heart. It was enough to correct his vision, to renew that understanding of sovereignty, to renew the understanding of his place in the grand scheme of things was God. That is why the Bible consistently tells us to keep looking to God, the author and the finish of our faith. We have to fix our eyes or we will get so distracted by our own pain, by our own loss, by our own frustration or by our own failures.
Julie Colbeth:So today, my friends, I want us to think about that. Where are we looking? Where is our gaze when we get frustrated and overwhelmed, when we experience loss, when we get that diagnosis or we lose the job or something that our hearts was really set on falls apart, when we experience people around us that hurt us, that lie to us, that take advantage of us, when the world offers us pain, do we do it with Jesus? Do we walk hand in hand in the pain with him or do we turn away? Do we run it with Jesus? Do we walk hand in hand in the pain with him or do we turn away? Do we run away from it? Because that there lies the key. We need to fix our eyes on him. We need to look at him because he wants to be glorified in that pain. He wants to be glorified in the suffering, and we will choose today, we will choose every day whether or not. We get to walk with God in glorifying himself in our situation or, like Jonah, we're going to disobey. God's still going to get the glory, but we're going to miss out. We won't be a part of it. Our hearts will not rejoice at the works of God anymore.
Julie Colbeth:So I hope that you take this heart check to heart, and I just want to offer up a quick prayer for all of us.
Julie Colbeth:Lord, we thank you for your word that you speak truth, that you give us life, lord, and that you show us these people's lives, that we can learn from such a beautiful lessons in their lives. Lord, I pray that you would give us the humility of Job, that you would give us the correct understanding of your sovereignty and of our place in your world. Lord, I pray that you would keep us from the bitterness, from the unforgiveness and from the anger of Jonah. Lord, for those of us that are harboring those things in our heart, god, by your spirit, would you cleanse them out of us. Lord, it is not an easy thing, but I pray, as we surrender those things to you, that we would be made new. Lord, we ask that you would glorify yourself in our hearts and in our minds and in our words and in our actions, the things that we do on this earth. Lord, would you receive all the glory and all the honor and all the praise. Amen, thank you.
