Jonah and the Worm

Growing Daily

Jonah and the Worm

The lawn was lush and green.  The pool sparkled.  My family was living the suburban dream—until an army of worms invaded.  They devoured the grass at the roots.  We could literally peel back the browning turf in sheets.  Before long they even found their way to the pool filter, clogging it and turning the water murky gray.

If there was any humor in the whole ordeal, it was that I was studying Jonah at the time.  In Jonah 4, the prophet sits on a hillside looking down at Nineveh, more concerned about his comfort than the spiritual fate of the city.  When the leafy vine that provided shade withers—destroyed by a worm—Jonah is furious.  

Then God asks a piercing question: “Is it right for you to be angry because the plant died?” (Jonah 4:9).  God contrasts Jonah’s grief over a plant with His concern for 120,000 people living in Nineveh.

That day, God brought Jonah 4 into sharp focus.  I was more concerned about my ruined lawn and pool than about the spiritual fate of the people who live just beyond my fence.  While I was preoccupied with saving the grass, God’s heart was fixed on saving my neighbors.  The lawn will grow back, and filters can be cleaned.  But souls are eternal.

Lord, lift my eyes higher than my own backyard.  What “worm” has my attention today? Help me see the eternal needs of the people around me.


- Catherine Reid