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The
highest courage is to dare to be yourself in the face of adversity,
choosing right over wrong, ethics over convenience, and truth over
popularity.
Travel the path of integrity without looking back, for THERE IS
NEVER A WRONG TIME TO DO THE RIGHT THING.
-
Bishop Soc Villegas
25 July 2007
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LESSONS OF JOB
(Part 6)
JONAH AND JOB
In today's reading, Jonah
gets angry with God, because the conversion of Nineveh was greatly
displeasing to him (Jonah 4:1). Because of his anger, he wanted to die
(Jon 4:3). Later Jonah again was angry with God, when the gourd plant
giving him shade withered. Again he wanted to die.
Many afflictions happen to us that cause us to react in negative ways,
at times even against God. We fail to see God's purposes. We disagree
with what has happened, and consider things only according to our own
perspective. We have set ways of accepting how God should act in the
world, and if things do not happen our way, we react negatively. We
become sorry for ourselves. Wittingly or unwittingly, we reject the
very plan of God.
Typhoon Ondoy caused great damage. Among our brethren, one lost his
father in the flood, a couple lost their house and all possessions,
necessitating their entrusting their 5 children to other persons
temporarily, still another had to wade through waist deep water (in
other parts even deeper) for two days to reach his home and loved
ones. There were of course over 300 deaths, and countless homes and
personal possessions destroyed. Around the same time, in other parts
of the world, there was the earthquake in Indonesia and the tsunami in
Samoa that caused great damage and loss of lives.
How does one afflicted by such calamities react? It is proper to
grieve and shed tears. But one must also learn the lessons that God is
trying to teach. Detachment from possessions? Concern for our fellow
men? Care for nature? Redemptive suffering? Reverential fear? Trust in
Jesus?
One who has suffered must first of all place his suffering in
perspective. Is he still alive? Others lost their lives. Is he still
healthy? Others have been injured. Does he still have his home? Others
have lost everything. Is he still living in the same place? Others
have to relocate and enter into an uncertain future. Despite
suffering, God is still there for us!
Further, one must never take it out on God. There can be a great
temptation to do so. After all, does not God control nature? Why does
God allow the innocent to suffer? But God's question to Jonah is His
same question to us: "Have you reason to be angry?" (Jon
4:4). "Have you reason to be angry over the plant?" (Jon
4:9). Jonah said yes he has reason to be angry. This is in contrast to
Job, who did not complain against God. And Job, in humility, finally
accepted that he would not be able to fully understand God's ways, and
simply accepted God's majesty and sovereignty. God then restored and
blessed him twofold. On the other hand, we do not know how Jonah's
story ends.
We need to trust in God's justice and righteousness, especially in the
midst of affliction. His ways are not our ways. He is the Almighty!
His plans are always for our good. God can comfort us, as He would
want to, just as He provided Jonah a gourd plant for shade from the
heat, which made him very happy. But God also sent a worm to attack
the plant the next morning so that it withered, and without the shade
Jonah became faint due to the heat. If this happened to us, our
response should not be that of Jonah, who got angry and wanted to die,
but that of Job, who said: "The Lord gave and the Lord has taken
away; blessed be the name of the Lord!" (Job 1:21b). Job did not
sin, nor say anything disrespectful of God (Job 1:22).
Jonah knew about God. "I knew that you are a gracious and
merciful God, slow to anger, rich in clemency, loathe to punish."
(Jon 4:2b). But he did not act in accordance with his faith. When the
chips were down, so was his faith. God told Jonah: "You are
concerned over the plant which cost you no labor and which you did not
raise; it came up in one night and in one night it perished."
(Jon 4:10). All good things come from God. At times, God allows the
bad things to happen. The Lord gives and the Lord takes away. "We
accept good things from God; and should we not accept evil?" (Job
2:10b).
Whatever happens to us in life, whether good or seemingly bad, God is
there for us. He is our comfort and He is our salvation. Let us simply
trust in Him, knowing that He is just and righteous.
God bless you all.
frank
(October 06, 2009)
Go to Part 7
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