A Change of Plans

"But Jonah was greatly displeased and became angry. 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 4:1-3

There comes a moment in everyone's life when plans get changed. Generally, this is because our plans do not match God's. Jonah faced such a time. After that pesky big fish experience, he found himself in Nineveh, doing what God told him to do, even though he had gone the other direction. God told him to speak against the city. So when Jonah arrived he immediately began to tell them that the city would be destroyed in forty days. That was his message. You would think that it was not a popular one.
    The people of Nineveh did receive the message of Jonah. They began to repent of the sin and wickedness that had overrun the city. Even the king, when he heard what Jonah said, repented for his sin and wickedness. He issued a decree that all should do the same. The city escaped destruction by listening to the prophet's words. They responded to God and he relented from bringing destruction.
    Jonah was upset. He was angry. You see, what he told the people of Nineveh was this: "God is going to destroy this city in forty days." But God didn't. Jonah must have been thinking, God just made a liar out of me. So he was angry with God. Things did not turn out the way Jonah had planned. They did however, turn out the way God planned. Thus the conflict between Jonah's plan and God's came to a head. I can't help but notice the paradox between Jonah's way and God's. Jonah became angry, and quickly. God, by Jonah's own confession is, "Slow to anger and abounding in love." We too, must face times when our plans succumb to the plan of God.
    Everything that God did was for the sake of the city of Nineveh. He called Jonah, went and got him when he had gone the wrong direction, and sent him to the city. A city of thousands, possibly over a million inhabitants, was spared the wrath of God.
    Many times, we believe we know why God is calling us or sending us. However, when we get there, we find that it is much different than we had planned. God's will is always supreme. Success is not measured by our own thinking, it is measured by God in the light of eternity. Even though we may be humbled, if God's purpose is served, the kingdom of heaven will be advanced. Instead of becoming angry or distraught, we should instead thank God that his will has been accomplished. We can know that even though things look different than what we thought, God is in control and we have been used for his purpose. God loved Jonah. God loves us. He loves so deeply that no one on the face of the earth escapes him. He will use us to extend his love to those who don't know him. Life and death is in his hands and he will always accomplish his purpose with love. His love certainly looks different than we sometimes think. All are in his hands, all are called, and all are loved. Celebrate the working of his plan, even if it requires you to change your own.