Jonah, part 3...

I am always amazed at how God works - completely unexpected in so many ways and places.

I had thought my meditation on Jonah was at an end and it was time to move elsewhere. But small circumstances (or should I say providence) have returned my mind to Jonah.

Have you ever considered how your expectations can quench the Spirit's work? I believe that is what Jonah experienced. He expected God to do something with Nineveh and it happened. Then he didn't expect God to kill the plant, but God did. That caused frustration and anger in Jonah toward God.

A dear friend reminded me of this last night. She said that it is sometimes hard to expect or anticipate the Spirit working and see it when it didn't go the way she envisioned it in her mind.

I have done that over the last couple of days with small things. But my expectations hindered the joy I could have experienced if I only had seen the other areas God was working in. Or if I had been willing to see the grace all around me.

I was convicted and encouraged this morning as I looked back on those circumstances God put me in and actually saw areas that the Spirit was working. But I had missed them earlier, because of a narrow view of how God could work. That would be another Jonah moment.

However, God is infinitely good... He allowed me the chance to find and relish the missed joy second-hand. For that, I am extremely thankful!