Don’t Let Your Emotion Rule You

And the Lord God prepared a plant and made it come up over Jonah, that it might be shade for his head to deliver him from his misery. So Jonah was very grateful for the plant. But as morning dawned the next day God prepared a worm, and it so damaged the plant that it withered. And it happened, when the sun arose, that God prepared a vehement east wind; and the sun beat on Jonah’s head, so that he grew faint. Then he wished death for himself, and said, “It is better for me to die than to live.” Then God said to Jonah, “Is it right for you to be angry about the plant?” And he said, “It is right for me to be angry, even to death!” But the Lord said, “You have had pity on the plant for which you have not labored, nor made it grow, which came up in a night and perished in a night. -Jonah 4:6-10

Many people are too emotional about the issue of life to the extent that they are either slowed down completely or derailed on their life journey. Such was the case of Jonah and the passengers that boarded the same ship with him going to Tarshish.

In the story, the mariners would have perished for failure to confront the pressing issues seriously and timely. They did not want to offend Jonah out of emotion. The passengers possibly thought it was their responsibility to die to make him happy when he told them that he was the cause of their ordeal. Having revealed his identity and disobedience to God was enough ground and justification for them to have calmness. Jonah 1:4,6-16.

There are some people today who are like the mariners in the storm of Jonah who lost their wares and property and would have lost their lives because of sentiments. Think of it, if they had managed to keep a heavenly-resisted man like Jonah, all of them could have perished, including Jonah. On the other hand, Jonah would still have repented in the bottom of the sea and given chance by God. The fish would have transported him to his destination. You know the Lord is merciful.

Don’t forget this, that God has no intention that you will be frustrated in your location. You cannot be accountable for what you are not responsible for. Accountability goes along with responsibility. Jonah was responsible for what happened to him along the way to Tarshish.

Life is like a gift and we must not allow anybody to break our focus and make it ordinary, for with determination and strong will, we shall succeed, Amen.