Tuesday, August 30, 2022

Trusting God When It Seems Unfair – Nah, I’m Good

August 30, 2022/in Week 4, Bible Study

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Ask anyone in my life, and you will find that I am a Type A personality. It is in my nature to take charge of situations and achieve my goals. While this go-getter attitude has its benefits, it also causes a desire for me to always be in the driver’s seat of my life. Too often, letting go of my own desires and what I think should happen in life takes a backseat to trusting God’s sovereign plan.

Jonah knew and trusted in God’s unchanging nature; he knew that he served a compassionate, patient God. However, he still did not trust God to bring about the outcome that Jonah himself wanted. Jonah knew all along that it was in God’s character to invite people to repent of their sins and experience an intimate relationship with him. Knowing this, Jonah was still so resistant to God’s decision to forgive the Ninevites that he would have rather died than watch God have mercy on them and lead them to repentance.

Jonah 4:1-3

1 This change of plans greatly upset Jonah, and he became very angry. 2 So he complained to the Lord about it: “Didn’t I say before I left home that you would do this, Lord? That is why I ran away to Tarshish! I knew that you are a merciful and compassionate God, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love. You are eager to turn back from destroying people. 3 Just kill me now, Lord! I’d rather be dead than alive if what I predicted will not happen.

When first reading the story of Jonah, I quickly became frustrated by his inability to trust God to know what is best instead of stubbornly being controlled by his own will and desires. But then I realized that there is a little bit of Jonah in me—whether that be choosing a college, career, or relationship—things do not always go as we first planned. Even though, in my heart, I trust God and know that his ways are higher than mine, I still try to be God and chase after what I think is right rather than what God desires.

Let us not forget that we have a trustworthy God whose ways are higher than our ways, and whose purpose for us is greater than our own plans.

Isaiah 55:8-9

“My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the Lord. “And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.”

Questions:

Has there been a time in your life when you resisted God’s will and direction to follow what you thought was right? In what direction was God calling you, and in which direction did you want to run toward instead?

Why do you think it is so difficult to trust God at times, even when we know and have experienced his trustworthiness?

Next Steps:

Prayerfully ask God to help you give up your own will when it contradicts his. Ask him to search your heart for resistance to his will and to develop your trust in his plan.

Read the Parable of the Lost Son (Luke 15:11-22). Reflect on how the stubbornness of the older son relates to Jonah’s (and our own) tendency to resist God and, instead, trust in what we believe is the right and just outcome of the situation.

Prayer:

Heavenly Father, thank you for allowing us to experience an intimate relationship with you. We make mistakes on our walk with Christ every day, yet you still extend us your compassion and mercy. Thank you for being our sovereign God and not leaving us to deal with the outcomes of our decisions on our own. Please help us to give up our own selfish desires and truly listen to you, giving us the desire to go where you are calling us instead of resisting your will. In Jesus’ name, amen.