Christian Devotional – May 8, 2026

The Reluctant Follower, Day 16

Check yourself. Read Jonah 4:4.

Let’s recap this story so far. God gives Jonah a message. Jonah runs away. God gets Jonah’s attention when he is swallowed by a giant fish. Jonah repents. God forgives Jonah. God gives Jonah a message again. Jonah goes and delivers the message. The people repent and God chooses mercy over judgment. Jonah gets angry that God is merciful.

Jonah seems to be forgetting just how merciful God has been to him. I mean, God did save him from his disobedience. But Jonah is still really unhappy and God challenges Jonah by asking him if he has a right to be upset. God’s really saying to Jonah, “You need to check yourself and figure out whether or not you really should be upset about the situation.”

Do we get upset when God chooses to judge some and to show mercy to others? Do we get angry about the things that God gets angry about, or are we getting angry about things that we have no business being angry about? God wants Jonah to understand that he has no reason to be angry or upset about this situation. God has the right to do whatever he wants to do, and God can treat people in whatever way he decides is appropriate. That’s not anything that Jonah should ever get upset about. That’s not anything that we should get upset about. Our focus is to be on glorifying God and encouraging others to glorify God. Are we staying focused on that. Or are we being distracted and getting angry about petty things around us?

Watch the video devotional here: https://youtu.be/sO0VEYo2SWE