Blog

God said to Jonah, “Do you do well to be angry for the plant?” And he said, “Yes, I do well to be angry, angry enough to die.” Jonah 4:9 While enslaved to our pathologic appetites, addicts are not known for thinking clearly. Reason is often overruled by preference and though there are mountains of evidence…
Read more

Jonah went out of the city . . . He sat under it in the shade, till he should see what would become of the city. Jonah 4:5 You’re only sorry that you got caught. It’s been said of me and I’ve said it of others. When secret, destructive behavior becomes not-so-secret anymore, and the consequences…
Read more

“O Lord, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.” And the Lord said, “Do you do well to be angry?” Jonah 4:3 In the throes of my addiction, I became angry at God. You created me with this destructive appetite. I’ve begged you to take it…
Read more

But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was angry . . . “That is why I made haste to flee to Tarshish.” Jonah 4:1-2 For the last week, my son and I have been playing the new battlefield video game he got for Christmas. Before each game starts, players assemble in a staging area where…
Read more

When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil way, God relented of the disaster that he had said he would do to them, and he did not do it. Jonah 3:10 Every morning, I read tomorrow’s passage, and then spend the day thinking on it, asking myself a few of questions. What…
Read more

Jonah began to go into the city, going a day’s journey. And he called out, “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!” And the people of Nineveh believed God. Jonah 3:4-5 In today’s passage, Jonah finally went to Nineveh, preaching to the people that God was going to destroy them for their evil behavior. They…
Read more

Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time, saying, “Arise, go to Nineveh . . .” Jonah 3:1 I often write of the disastrous consequences of my addiction, but I don’t often write about all the warning tremors that came before the great earthquake. In my addiction, constantly terrified of discovery, I…
Read more

And the Lord spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah out upon the dry land. Jonah 2:10 I love the story of Jonah because I identify so well with this man who believed in God and yet remained so deeply flawed. I empathize with his self-inflicted misery and I understand that he only became…
Read more

I called out to the Lord, out of my distress, and he answered me; out of the belly of Sheol I cried, and you heard my voice. Jonah 2:1 Whenever I meet someone struggling with addiction, I tell my brief story: I followed me and my destructive appetites to disaster, surrendering my faith, family, and career.…
Read more

And the Lord appointed a great fish to swallow up Jonah. Jonah 1:17 I recently had a bad day. My back hurt, I didn’t sleep well, and when my family stopped for breakfast at the gas station, I lost my wallet. I didn’t discover this until later, when I was getting a carwash, during which I…
Read more