Jonah 4

Jonah 4 
English Standard Version (ESV)

 I do this.  I'm very grateful that my weaknesses aren't exposed for everyone to read about, but it's helpful for us to think about what we might learn.  I think we've all done this--in the midst of the story, we focus solely on us.
  Here, Jonah is worried about being embarrassed-- he thought it would help his reputation if Nineveh was actually destroyed, as though the mercy of God saving 120,000 people is not an amazing thing. Jonah wanted the story to be about him, and the people of Nineveh, well, they just didn't mean anything to him.
  It's easy for us to make the story about us.  We become self-centered, and dramatic things going on in the world around us are diminished in our sight if they don't involve us.  We care about ourselves, and the rest of the world, and what God is doing, fades into background noise.
  So a prayer for us is to take a deep breath, exhale, and then pray for God to help us see ourselves as part of a global community, where God is always at work and people, billions of them, need to see God's love and grace and mercy and peace.  To that end, we pray for the people of Nepal, Nigeria, New York and our neighbors.  We pray for Syria and for non-Christians everywhere.  We look for evidence that God is at work and we celebrate it.  We pray for the light to shine, and for our lives to reflect the glory of God into the world around us.