Jack’s Blackberry erupted from the passenger seat of his Honda Accord. He shifted from third to fourth as he merged with traffic on I-40, then grabbed the phone. When he saw the name on the screen, he punched the gas to the floor and growled along with his engine. Chris was calling. Once again, Chris hadn’t shown up for their weekly accountability breakfast at The Hole in One Bagel Factory. What was it now, three weeks in a row? Jack declined the call, tossed the phone back on the seat, then honked at the Oldsmobile driving five miles below the speed limit just because he couldn’t yell at Chris.
For Jack, Chris became an enemy-of-the-day.
Who is your enemy-of-the-day?
Your boss?
Your mother-in-law?
Your exercise and nutrition plan?
The corporate recruiter who’s sitting on your résumé?
If you’re married, perhaps you’ve had to follow Dennis Rainey’s [Twitter | Web] advice and repeat to yourself, “My mate is not my enemy.”
Jonah had an enemy. The last place on earth Jonah wanted to go was Nineveh.
Jonah was a prophet to God’s people in Israel, not to strangers… Not to those who hated the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The people of Nineveh worshipped strange gods. Nineveh was Israel’s Axis of Evil.
So… Jonah boarded a ship headed in the opposite direction because he did not want God to save his enemies. He thought, If I don’t bring God’s Word to them, they won’t believe. And God will destroy them.
But you and I know “the rest of the story.” God used a storm and a big fish to get Jonah to Nineveh. Jonah brought God’s Word. God saved Nineveh from destruction.
What will God use today in my life and in your life to get his point across? What will you and I have to face before we speak with our enemies-of-the-day with grace and compassion?
Part of Jonah’s story brings me comfort.
After God removed his judgment from Nineveh, Jonah stomped up a hill outside the city where he sat down to brood, whine, and complain.
That’s just like me. I too often will say the right things and do the right things, but my heart isn’t in it. Like Jonah, I go off and complain about how God was kind and generous to my enemy-of-the-day. I wanted to see total annihilation. I wanted to be vindicated. I wanted to be right.
Instead, God wanted peace and reconciliation.
So I ignore His plan and adopt mine. And brood, whine, and complain.
I think Jonah…and I…would’ve been happier following God’s lead.
So where is your Nineveh today? Your co-worker’s cubicle? A telephone call? Your bedroom? For me, there’s a room God’s calling me to enter.
How can you demonstrate God’s love and compassion to your enemy-of-the-day?
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