“What If God Shows Mercy to Someone You Think Deserves Judgment?” December 18
You may think you know the story of Jonah.
A runaway prophet.
A violent storm.
A huge fish.
Three days and nights in its belly.
Then Jonah finally obeys.
But what if the fish isn’t really the most important part of the story?
What if Jonah’s greatest problem wasn’t that he ran from God—but why he ran?
Jonah knew God was merciful.
He knew God was willing to forgive.
And that was exactly what bothered him.
Because there were people he did not want God to forgive.
That raises an uncomfortable question:
What happens when God wants mercy for someone we think deserves judgment?
What if the person who hurt us, mistreated us, betrayed us, or made life difficult is someone God wants us to pray for, do good to, share Christ with, and stand ready to forgive?
Could bitterness toward another person actually put us in conflict with the heart of God?
And in Revelation 8, the seventh seal is opened and the trumpet judgments begin.
The first four are devastating.
Yet before the fifth trumpet sounds, an angel cries:
“Woe, woe, woe…”
If the first four are that terrible, what could possibly come next?
