Suicidal Thoughts

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Opening Prayer

Almighty Lord God, You are beyond time and space. You hold together all that is real. I praise You!

Read Jonah 4:1-11

^[1] But to Jonah this seemed very wrong, and he became angry. ^[2] He prayed to the LORD, “Isn’t this what I said, LORD, when I was still at home? That is what I tried to forestall by fleeing to Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity. ^[3] Now, LORD, take away my life, for it is better for me to die than to live.” ^[4] But the LORD replied, “Is it right for you to be angry?” ^[5] Jonah had gone out and sat down at a place east of the city. There he made himself a shelter, sat in its shade and waited to see what would happen to the city. ^[6] Then the LORD God provided a leafy plant and made it grow up over Jonah to give shade for his head to ease his discomfort, and Jonah was very happy about the plant. ^[7] But at dawn the next day God provided a worm, which chewed the plant so that it withered. ^[8] When the sun rose, God provided a scorching east wind, and the sun blazed on Jonah’s head so that he grew faint. He wanted to die, and said, “It would be better for me to die than to live.” ^[9] But God said to Jonah, “Is it right for you to be angry about the plant?” “It is,” he said. “And I’m so angry I wish I were dead.” ^[10] But the LORD said, “You have been concerned about this plant, though you did not tend it or make it grow. It sprang up overnight and died overnight. ^[11] And should I not have concern for the great city of Nineveh, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left-and also many animals?”

Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society. All rights reserved throughout the world. Used by permission of International Bible Society.

Meditate

“As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts” (Isa. 55:9). We must never forget this truth.

Think Further

How often we hear expressions like “how could God let this happen?” or “how could God do this to me?” Most of us have sometimes expressed such thoughts and known those who have even given up their faith because of resentment against God. We can sympathize with the strength of Jonah’s feelings, but it is interesting that his anger was not because God allowed him to be thrown into the sea or swallowed by a fish, but because God had forgiven Nineveh. He knew God was merciful; he had expected this to happen, but he really did not like it. Nineveh did not deserve mercy, and therefore God was wrong to show it to them! If God was that kind of God, then Jonah was better off dead. The irony of the fact that Jonah himself had been shown undeserved mercy seems to have been lost on him. His own failings were not to be compared with those of Nineveh! The lesson that all sin offends against God’s righteousness–and a leaky jug is useless whether the hole is tiny or big–is a hard one to learn.

What is encouraging here is the further trouble that God takes to get his point across to Jonah. It was important to God that Jonah understood what God was doing, and why. Jonah was upset when a plant died because it could no longer shelter him. Surely he could understand that God was upset when a city–or a regime, or a person–had to be destroyed so the possibility of them serving him was lost. People and their salvation really matter to God. Of course, we know that the essential repentance was short-lived and the Assyrian empire was eventually destroyed, but the point remains.

Apply

Can you think of circumstances where God’s actions might make you think life was not worth living? What relevance to you might Jonah have in such circumstances?

Closing prayer

Merciful God, forgive me for being like Jonah, putting self-interest ahead of seeing Your purposes accomplished. You are a God of amazing grace.

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