If we wish to see more compassion and mercy, we must work hard to foster, increase, and inflame love within our hearts and in the hearts of others. Among others' actions, we must pray that God fills our hearts with love. We must stare long at the love of God in Christ. We must remember God's works. We must discipline ourselves to walk in love even when our hearts do not feel so loving. We must fight against sin and make war on the flesh, for they make war on love.

Before we judge Jonah too harshly, we must remember that even in God's own words of revelation to Israel He asserts two truths that appear contradictory on the surface - "I will show mercy" and "I will not let sin go unpunished." Jonah and the rest of us should ask, "How can this be?"

God's concern with Jonah's heart in addition to Jonah's actions reflects a truth about God that appears all throughout the Scriptures. In His dealings with His people, God consistently rebukes those who perform the right action with a heart far from him. Jesus himself was concerned not only that men do not sleep with a woman but that they also not with their hearts long for such. He does not commend one for simply refraining from murdering, but He demands also that the seed of hatred which tempts one to murder be rooted up out of the heart and destroyed.

We must not fail as Jonah failed. We must faithfully deliver the message. We must, without fear, confront sin and warn of the impending judgment that is to come. But we must do so with hearts full of pity and compassion for those to whom we carry the message.

The church today seems to agree that the cities and nations in which we live are full of evil. Constant news feeds remind us continually that our communities are filled with unrighteousness and violence. Yet the church often shies away from the one means by which renewal will come, bold proclamation of the knowledge of God as the just and holy judge who will not tolerate evil.

The king and the peasant alike stand on level ground before the throne of God. The millionaire and the beggar must together stoop low and call out to God. Nothing one possesses - power, money, influence, acts of charity - nothing will serve the sinner before the holy and just God. The great and small equally rely on one hope, the mercy of God.

God in His mercy and kindness, love and patience speaks to the spectrum of humanity. He addressed all people with His Word. Jesus His Son made this point repeatedly, and in part His faithfulness to be the word and speak the word to the world led to His death. He went out of His way to speak to the Samaritan woman by the well. He went away from the Jewish towns and into the towns of Tyre and Sidon to rescue a Canaanite woman and her demon possessed daughter. He served, Jairus the Roman Centurion, and He announced Himself not only the Savior of Israel but of all people. Jesus, the word of God in the flesh, came preaching the message of God across all boundaries and barriers. In Him the word of God reaches out to all people.

In spite of all their evil, wickedness, and human right violations, God placed value on their heads. He did not treat them as beasts, even though they often acted like them. As a matter of fact, God later pointed out that Jonah placed too little value on the people of Nineveh (Jon 4:10-11). Though they were mere men in hostile rebellion, enmity, and hostility toward Him, He loved them. He did not grow indifferent to them. Instead, He took action to pursue them with the truth.

God's good and perfect word comes to us. He gives us wise direction. He commands us in the way we should go. Yet, we stubbornly refuse. We shake our fist, stiffen our necks, and harden our hearts. Let the story of Jonah serve as a warning. Do not rebel against God's Word. Stop running. Listen. Submit your lifestyle to the design and order and instruction of God. Be like the fish not like Jonah.

The great scandal of idolatry is that our hearts' affection, thanksgiving, and willing service go to those who do not deserve it. As the Savior, He alone deserves our affection. To Him alone should we address our thanksgiving. And, to Him alone should we present our bodies as living sacrifices which in light of His salvation is a reasonable act of worship (Rom 12:1-2). Salvation belongs to the LORD and He alone deserves our gratitude, worship, and service.

There in Sheol, Jonah's faith gave expression. He turned his eyes back toward the temple - the presence of God - longing again to be restored to His presence. Possessing a measure of hope and faith that God would show mercy, Jonah turned to the judge who had sentenced him to Sheol and by faith asked for help.

Are you struggling today? Do you feel like you are drowning? Do you sense the waves of life's troubles have overtaken you? Call out to the LORD. Pour out your heart to Him. Shed your tears on His shoulder. Plead with Him. He sees you. He cares for you. He loves you. He knows everything about you. The dark clouds that keep you from seeing any hope-giving light do not prevent His eyes from looking upon you with caring compassion.

Perhaps your sins indeed are great. Perhaps you might find it easy to believe you have crossed the line one too many times. Maybe you too have sunk down deep into a place of despair and hopelessness. To you I bring the good news of God's mercy. His grace, his steadfast love, and his abundant mercy are greater than all your sins.

If the LORD dealt with us according to our sins, there would be weeping and gnashing of teeth, but the mercy of God offers hope. Forgiveness of sin can be known and men by faith can draw near to the awesome presence of God where awe-filled joy rather than dread is experienced.

‌When God reveals Himself in the Bible, He shows himself both merciful and just. He says, “The LORD is a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger and abounding in faithful love and truth…” (Ex 34:6), and at the same time He says, “But he will not leave the guilty unpunished…” (Ex 34:7). He “will by no means clear the guilty” (Na 1:3).

Christians, rather than retreating to a isolated comfortable life, move with compassion toward those who face terrifying and dreadful circumstances.  We should not be indifferent, unconcerned, and unmoved. Christlikeness demands that we move with urgency into the storm where they are and demonstrate with our hands and feet that God indeed is merciful, compassionate, and kind especially in the midst of their troubles.

Idolatry is foolish.  Trust in one other than the LORD provides no hope in our present troubles.  We, like the sailors, must stop looking to idols and turn to the sovereign LORD.  We too must cry out, “Please LORD, don’t let us perish!” (Jon 1:14).  Only in this One True and Living God do we know any hope in this world, for it is this LORD who rules and reigns over His creation.

Our lives in this fallen world know good and not so good. We know calamity and we know well being. We experience both the sweetness of God’s goodness and the sting of sin’s curse. We know the warmth of the sun’s rays, and we know the pain of a sunburn. Those of faith learn to see that God stands behind every detail of their lives.

A Christianity that fails to warn the world of God's fierce anger and inevitable judgment fails to deliver the message entrusted to them. It is the warning of judgment that God uses by design to bring men to awareness of their need of a Savior. They need one who can bring them out from under God's wrath, one who can remove their guilt and wash away their sins. That One is Jesus Christ, God's Son. He came to remove the sins of the world so that guilty sinners might be declared right rather than guilty before God.

If the church looks on the world with the same compassion in their hearts that Jesus experienced in His when seeing Nineveh, she will not fail to expose sin. Bringing the word of God to people requires a true and honest diagnosis of their most pressing issue - they have sinned against the holy God. The church cannot at the same time pursue the salvation of the world and affirm the world in their sin.

God's use of messengers to deliver His Word points us to the ultimate messenger of God, Jesus Christ. He dwelled happily in the joyful presence of the Father, but in humility He left His throne in order that He might give us the Father's word. He came and spoke to us that we might see and believe in Him.

How does the eternal, non-physical, and transcendent Creator of the universe act in time, space, and relationship with human beings carrying out their lives in a very physical world, at a very specific time, and in a very specific location? He does so by speaking. He communicates. He gives a message. He draws near and talks. His word comes with weight and force which alter present circumstances.

Scripture reveals to us the God whose heart moves with pity when He looks out and sees evil men and women languishing, struggling, and perishing. He notices each sinner's lostness. He sees each one not just as a guilty sinner but as those also ensnared, trapped, and in need of rescue.