November 4
“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?” Jonah 4:11
We are a family of mostly left-handed people. My husband, all our children and even a few of our grandchildren are all left handed! As the only right handed person in the immediate family, clearly I am the odd woman out and the object of many comments about being so. At one point, there was even an attempt made by one of the kids to also teach our dog to raise her left paw first . . . until I intervened! All kidding aside, for a period of time in our education system, children were forced day in and day out, to use their non-dominant hand. During my husband’s early school years, attempts by well-meaning instructors to switch the use of his left hand to his right, were fruitless; nothing was accomplished except confusion for him. By the time our children were in a school setting those methods had been abandoned thankfully; and they were free to use the hand that was comfortable for them, eliminating any confusion in their minds.
The old expression “they can’t tell their right from their left.” underscores confusion and is frequently used to identify those who are blindly going forward, all the while with a lack of understanding about something in their lives; a lack of direction; or yet a refusal to acknowledge right from wrong. How compassionate is God! His concern for the people in Nineveh, who existed in a confused and numb state because they did not acknowledge Him or respect His laws, compelled Him to send the reluctant Jonah to warn them, giving them a second chance at life.
But at this point, Jonah did not comprehend the depth of God’s loving forgiveness, in fact, he was pretty angry with God, perhaps even in a state of confusion himself, over God forgiveness of the Ninevites, his enemies. So much so that Jonah took himself away from the city to observe from a distance its expected destruction, and eventually sat protected from the sun under a plant that God provided for him. When the plant died, he used that to complain loudly to God, venting his feelings about the loss of this plant that had sheltered him! God then used that situation to help Jonah have some understanding of His own love and compassion for all He created. Unfortunately, it is not clear whether Jonah ended his pity party or not, or whether he turned left or right toward God, who was leading him to be a prophet. But each of us can surely see some of Jonah in ourselves, when we balk at the direction God is calling us toward or when we hold on tightly to prejudice, to material things, to pride and anger.
How God loves and forgives each of us! With certainty and understanding we know that love is ours, and is in every aspect of our lives and in our faith. Whether we are left or right handed or ambidextrous is irrelevant; with God, there is no confusion, only direction.
Dear compassionate God, lover of us all, creator of everything; thank you for showing us direction and eliminating any confusion we may have.
Copyright© 2013 Kathleen A. Matson
“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?” Jonah 4:11
We are a family of mostly left-handed people. My husband, all our children and even a few of our grandchildren are all left handed! As the only right handed person in the immediate family, clearly I am the odd woman out and the object of many comments about being so. At one point, there was even an attempt made by one of the kids to also teach our dog to raise her left paw first . . . until I intervened! All kidding aside, for a period of time in our education system, children were forced day in and day out, to use their non-dominant hand. During my husband’s early school years, attempts by well-meaning instructors to switch the use of his left hand to his right, were fruitless; nothing was accomplished except confusion for him. By the time our children were in a school setting those methods had been abandoned thankfully; and they were free to use the hand that was comfortable for them, eliminating any confusion in their minds.
The old expression “they can’t tell their right from their left.” underscores confusion and is frequently used to identify those who are blindly going forward, all the while with a lack of understanding about something in their lives; a lack of direction; or yet a refusal to acknowledge right from wrong. How compassionate is God! His concern for the people in Nineveh, who existed in a confused and numb state because they did not acknowledge Him or respect His laws, compelled Him to send the reluctant Jonah to warn them, giving them a second chance at life.
But at this point, Jonah did not comprehend the depth of God’s loving forgiveness, in fact, he was pretty angry with God, perhaps even in a state of confusion himself, over God forgiveness of the Ninevites, his enemies. So much so that Jonah took himself away from the city to observe from a distance its expected destruction, and eventually sat protected from the sun under a plant that God provided for him. When the plant died, he used that to complain loudly to God, venting his feelings about the loss of this plant that had sheltered him! God then used that situation to help Jonah have some understanding of His own love and compassion for all He created. Unfortunately, it is not clear whether Jonah ended his pity party or not, or whether he turned left or right toward God, who was leading him to be a prophet. But each of us can surely see some of Jonah in ourselves, when we balk at the direction God is calling us toward or when we hold on tightly to prejudice, to material things, to pride and anger.
How God loves and forgives each of us! With certainty and understanding we know that love is ours, and is in every aspect of our lives and in our faith. Whether we are left or right handed or ambidextrous is irrelevant; with God, there is no confusion, only direction.
Dear compassionate God, lover of us all, creator of everything; thank you for showing us direction and eliminating any confusion we may have.
Copyright© 2013 Kathleen A. Matson