Are You Throwing a Pity Party?

Terry Virgo » God Scripture Mission Heart Sin

Jonah was angry (Jonah 4:1). We’d expect the prophet to be rejoicing and ecstatic at the people’s response and revival to God’s Word, yet Jonah’s reaction reflected not joy but hostility.

Self-Justification

The Ninevites had repented, but Jonah had not. He cried to God when he was in distress, but when God released him, he didn’t change inwardly. All this wayward prophet wanted to do was justify himself.

It isn’t enough to feel the pressure of a situation; you must repent and change your heart. Don’t be like Jonah here. When you cry out to God, let it be the beginning of a consistent change in your life.

Self-Importance

Jonah told the Ninevites they would be condemned, but in his heart he knew that God would show them mercy (Jonah 4:2). Jonah had no love for them. He was more concerned with the vindication of his prophetic call than with the overall purpose of God. While he was declaring the Ninivites were all going to die, he was thinking, “What’s going to happen to my prophetic ministry when the people don’t die?”

The apostle Paul was thrown in prison and from there wrote to the Philippians, “Some indeed preach Christ from envy and rivalry, but others from good will... What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in that I rejoice” (Philippians 1:15,18). Paul didn’t feel threatened by others who were preaching the gospel outside his prison walls. He recognized God’s purpose was far bigger than his personal ministry.

Self-Important and Uncompassionate

Once Jonah had given God’s message to the Ninevites, he sat down outside the city to see what would happen to them (Jonah 4:5). He’d passed children in the streets, men and women going about their daily business, cripples and beggars. “Forty more days and that’s it for you!” he’d declared in his professional prophetic way. There is no hint of compassion, no thought of trying to help.

When you cry out to God, let it be the beginning of a consistent change in your life

When Jesus came to be baptized, John the Baptist protested, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” (Matthew 3:14). But Jesus wanted to identify with us. He didn’t just stand and watch us suffer God’s imminent condemnation. He went through our experiences for us and with us, he walked alongside us, he served us, and he died for us.

Self-Pity

Jonah made himself a shelter, and God caused a plant to grow over his head to ease his discomfort. Jonah was “exceedingly glad about the plant” (Jonah 4:6). When the plant soon died and the sun blazed down on him, he fell again into depression and wanted to die (Jonah 4:8). This man was like a yo-yo. One minute he was up, the next he was down. While he was inside the fish he cried out, “Help, Lord! Save me!” When God rescued him, he wanted to die. When the vine grew over him, he was happy, but when it withered, he withered along with it.