An Attitude Like Jonah's Part 5, is based on Jonah 4:1-5 (nkjv).

I would like to think that if a nation would fall to their knees and seek forgiveness from God after I was given the opportunity to preach to them that I would be thrilled. Jonah chose to respond with anger and resentment, however. How unfortunate! He just gave over one hundred thousand people the ultimate gift and instead of celebrating at their repentance he throws a temper tantrum because he is worried about his reputation. Talk about a lack of perspective. The truth is, though, that pride can get in the way of our best efforts and we can all fall for this same mistake. Let's listen in to Jonah's discussion with God.

"So he prayed to the Lord, and said, 'Ah, Lord, was not this what I said when I was still in my country? Therefore I fled previously to Tarshish; for I know that You are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, One who relents from doing harm.'

'Therefore now, O Lord, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live!' " Jonah 4:2, 3.

What a sad commentary. Jonah would rather die than face the chance of looking like a false prophet. Don't get me wrong, our word should be important, but never more important than life. He is definitely right about one thing, though. God is very "gracious and merciful" . . . "slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness". I am so grateful for that.

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Pointing out what should be obvious to Jonah, God asks, "Is it right for you to be angry?", Jonah 4:4. Since there is no answer given in the Bible why don’t we take a stab at it. My answer is emphatically, NO!!! Granted, I am not in Jonah's position but that is the right answer even if it isn't the easy one. I realize that I keep repeating this but it's true and I don’t apologize for it. The fact is that God loves us all and His biggest objective for mankind is to save us. He will do everything in His power to see that we are fit for Heaven and Eternal Life. It's up to us to accept His offer. We are free to choose life or death.

After asking God to take his life, Jonah leaves the city and makes himself a shelter to watch its fate. He knows that the response of the Ninevites will surely save it. Yet he decides to hang around as if he is hoping that Nineveh will be destroyed anyway.

While we may not respond in the same way as Jonah when we are instrumental in saving others, many of us do fall for a very similar problem. How often I hear people complaining about the successes of others. It seems that we become jealous every time someone else makes more money than us or receives some type of reward that we wish we had. Why? Isn't there enough room for us to be successful, too? If we have a "scarcity mindset", we don't think so. But is that the truth? In most cases, the answer is no. In recent years, I have been striving to think more in terms of win-win realizing that there is more than enough to go around. The fact is that we should be thrilled about the success of others.

My challenge to you is to be joyful for the successes of others and learn from them. There is more than enough of whatever you are looking for. Choose to be positive. It will change your life. Trust me!