God Appointed A Worm

“God appointed a worm” Jonah 4:7. I can remember the first time I heard this taught. I was well aware of my worm status but was hoping to be promoted to the butterfly position. In the book of Jonah I found that God could use me even if I never got my wings. Over the years I have learned again and again that it's not about my plans and fitting God into them. It's about God's plans and my surrendering to Him.

One of the beautiful things in the book of Jonah is the list of divine appointments. First God appointed a prophet but he was a reluctant prophet and he chose to go the opposite direction of where God told him to go. So God appointed a storm to get his attention. When Jonah found himself drowning God appointed a fish for transportation. When Jonah had finally obeyed God He appointed a plant to give his prophet shade and save him from discomfort. God had more he wanted to teach Jonah so He appointed a worm to attack the plant,so that it withered. Last of all God appointed a scorching east wind and the sun to beat down on the head of Jonah to make him faint and show him the hardness of his heart.

Everyone knows the value of a prophet but it's easy to overlook the value of a storm,a fish, a plant, a worm, and a scorching east wind. The reason God was sending His prophet to Nineveh was because God is a God of compassion. He wanted the people of Nineveh to hear the message of salvation. God wanted Nineveh to repent. He wanted to have pity on them. Jonah had no pity for Nineveh so God showed him his heart by taking away something Jonah valued, a shade plant. Then God said to Jonah,”You had pity on the plant, for which you did not labor, nor did you make it grow, which came into being in the night and perished in a night. And should I not pity Nineveh?”

There is so much about this story I identify with. Sometimes God has sent me to share His love with people that I don't really care to share His love with. They have been unkind to me and I want to be unkind back or at least pretend they don't exist. And then again there is my longing for wings. If I'm going to be part of this story can't I at least have a pair of beautiful wings? The worm in this story is simply that, a worm not a butterfly. However, this worm was an appointed worm who was part of God's story of redemption.

Lord Jesus, when I consider all these things my mind goes to the second chapter of Philippians “Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves...Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant.” Lord, I want to be like You, I want the mind of Christ.