Eyes of Forgiveness

Most of us who grew up in Christian homes heard the story of Jonah and the Whale when we were very young. The image of being swallowed by a great fish for three days and then spit out caught our young imaginations. As adults there is so much more to the story.

There are great principles of God's grace and mercy. 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?”Jonah 4:5-11

 Forgiveness depends on how we look at people and circumstances. We have two ways we can respond :

We can look through man’s eyes or look through God’s eyes. The first leads to hurt the other to mercy because of God's grace.

 How’s your vision?

Look at forgiveness through eyes of grace. It will put a smile on God's face.