Friend,

I am resuming my daily devotions after several months of respite. I am grateful for your understanding and kind wishes following the death of my father, Gene. For the next five weeks, I will be working through the book of Revelation. For those of you who are listening to the sermon series, A Glimpse of the Future, I encourage you to read the first four chapters of Revelation by Sunday, July 21st.

 “God said to Jonah, ‘Is your anger about the shrub a good thing?’ Jonah said, ‘Yes, my anger is good—even to the point of death!’” (Jonah 4:9, CEB).

     How do you forgive God? Yes, you read correctly. How do you forgive when you are angry with God?

     Before you brand me a heretic, please read Jonah’s story carefully (Jonah 4:1-11). Jonah was angry with God. God had sent Jonah to Nineveh to preach to the people of that city and Jonah didn’t appreciate the task one bit. Nineveh was the capitol city of Babylon—the country that had ransacked Jerusalem and taken the Jews hostage. Jonah despised the Babylonian people.

 “But the one to whom little is forgiven loves little”  (Luke 7:47, NRSV).

     I enjoy attending twelve-step meetings. The beauty of the recovery community is its transparency. The ability to stand in front of a group of people and say, “Hi, I’m Suzy, I’m an alcoholic,” requires humility. By humility I mean       self-knowledge that goes public.

     Self-admitted addicts know their weaknesses, are painfully aware of their past misdeeds, and are willing to share their story of redemption with others. In Jesus’ parlance, they aren’t afraid to publicly share their story because they have been forgiven much.