Jonah, Marching Orders Part 3: Burdened By Your Marching Orders

Marching Orders
Part 3: Burdened by Your Marching Orders

Jonah 4

“When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, he had compassion and did not bring upon them the destruction he had threatened.”
Jonah 3:10(NIV)

“This change of plans greatly upset Jonah, and he became very angry.”
Jonah 4:1

“He prayed to the Lord, “O Lord, is this not what I said when I was still at home? That is why I was so quick to flee to Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity. Now, O Lord, take away my life, for it is better for me to die than to live.”
Jonah 4:2-3(NIV)

“The Lord replied, “Is it right for you to be angry about this?”
Jonah 4:4

1. Are you burdened to demonstrate the heart of God, as much as you are burdened to do the will of God?

“Don’t judge by his appearance or height, for I have rejected him. The Lord doesn’t see things the way you see them. People judge by outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”
1 Samuel 16:7

“Then Jonah went out to the east side of the city and made a shelter to sit under as he waited to see what would happen to the city.”
Jonah 4:5

“After sending them out, the Lord God stationed mighty cherubim to the east of the Garden of Eden.”
Genesis 3:24

“So Cain left the Lord’s presence and settled in the land of Nod, east of Eden.”
Genesis 4:16

“Lot chose for himself the whole Jordan Valley to the east of them.”
Genesis 13:11

“Then he brought me into the inner courtyard of the Lord’s Temple. At the entrance to the sanctuary, between the entry room and the bronze altar, there were about twenty-five men with their backs to the sanctuary of the Lord. They were facing east, bowing low to the ground, worshiping the sun!”
Ezekiel 8:16

“Then the Lord God provided a vine and made it grow up over Jonah to give shade for his head to ease his discomfort, and Jonah was very happy about the vine. But at dawn the next day God provided a worm, which chewed the vine so that it withered. When the sun rose, God provided a scorching east wind, and the sun blazed on Jonah’s head so that he grew faint. He wanted to die, and said, “It would be better for me to die than to live.”
Jonah 4:6-8(NIV)

“Do you have a right to be angry about the vine?” “I do,” he said. “I am angry enough to die.”
Jonah 4:9(NIV)

2. Do you love God enough to put aside the things that bother you, so you can pick up the things that burden Him.

“But the Lord said, “You have been concerned about this vine, though you did not tend it or make it grow. It sprang up overnight and died overnight. But Nineveh has more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left, and many cattle as well. Should I not be concerned about that great city?”
Jonah 4:10-11(NIV)

“We had to celebrate this happy day. For your brother was dead and has come back to life! He was lost, but now he is found!
Luke 15:32

3. Are you allowing God to change your heart?

“When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners. Now, most people would not be willing to die for an upright person, though someone might perhaps be willing to die for a person who is especially good. But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.”
Romans 5:6-8