God Works; Jonah Gets an Attitude Adjustment
“Trust in the LORD, and do good;” (Psalm 37:3)
Our Scripture says, “Trust in the LORD, and do good;” not, “Trust in the LORD, and do good for the right reason,” but “Trust in the LORD, and do good;” At times we may only do what’s right because we’re supposed to, but doing what’s right, regardless the reason, is better than not doing what’s right.
Say a lady buys a new outfit. She wears it to church to show it off. Going to church is right, but not to show off clothes. During the sermon, the preacher speaks against pride. God uses his words to convict the lady of her sin. She prays for forgiveness and gets a change of attitude. She may still wear the outfit, but she realizes afresh that church is for worshipping God and hearing His word, not showing off clothes.
In a way, that’s what happened to Jonah. God told him to preach to the people of Nineveh. Jonah did not want to. He did not care about the Ninevites. He boarded a ship to get away from God. God sent a storm. The sailors “…cried every man unto his god,” (Jonah 1:4) No help from them. The sailors learned Jonah was a Hebrew and was running from the Lord. Now they were really scared. Jonah knew the storm was because of him, and asked them to throw him overboard. They did, begging God not to destroy them.
He didn’t. The storm stopped. The sailors gratefully worshiped the true God and “…offered a sacrifice unto the LORD, and made vows.” (Jonah 1:16) As for Jonah, “…the LORD had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three day and three nights.” (Jonah 1:17)
Three days later, the whale spit Jonah out. God told him again to preach at Nineveh. Jonah went there, probably not because he wanted to, but because he learned the hard way that disobeying God is never smart. He cried out to the people, “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown.” (Jonah 3:4) All the city turned to God for mercy. God spared them. Yet “…it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was very angry.” (Jonah 4:1) He did right because God said to do it, but his attitude wasn’t the best.
Then God dealt with his attitude. God sent a gourd, a large plant, to give Jonah shade from the hot sun. Yet the next day, God sent a worm that destroyed the gourd. Jonah was very angry about the loss of the gourd, saying, “I do well to be angry, even unto death.” (Jonah 4:9) Then God told Jonah,
“Thou hast had pity on the gourd, for the which thou hast not laboured, neither madest it grow; which came up in a night, and perished in a night: And should not I spare Nineveh, that great city, wherein are more than sixscore thousand persons that cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand; and also much cattle?” (Jonah 4:10-11) The Ninevites had souls and would one day go into eternity. God wanted to spare them. People are far more important than plants. Jonah learned to care about people.
Mark 16:15 says, “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.” Christians are to tell people about Jesus so people will be saved. Yet some Christians may be embarrassed to witness or may lack concern for souls. If you are a Christian but you don’t witness to people because you care about them, then witness to them because Jesus said to do it. He said, “If ye love me, keep my commandments.” (John 14:15) If you obey, God will work in your heart to witness because you care, as He did with Jonah.
The story of Jonah is true. Jesus said so. “For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.” (Matthew 12:40) To see how to have your sins forgiven and eternal life by receiving Jesus as your personal Saviour, please go to www.clevelandbaptist.org, click “Helpful Links,” then “How Do I Go to Heaven?”
Brian Miller 3/23/2026