A word about worms.

All that chatter about caramel apples naturally made me think about worms.  You know what is akin to sin? Well, actually it is a sin? An unforgiving heart! Not surprisingly, there is not a lot of chatter on my blog about forgiveness….!! As you read my story..which is not even close to being told yet…you'll probably figure out why!! However, I want to share with you something that I learned about forgiveness last weekend! Let's talk about worms shall we? apples are so delicious, until they rot or have become victims of the worm! Then, you would rather die than touch that apple! Yuck! Did you know that Jonah had a problem with un forgiveness and he didn't even know it? Yep! Truly, I believe he was just like an apple that was rotting from within and infested with worms and it took deep sea diving, encounters of a fishy kind and a really hot, sun scorching day to reveal it to him!! Have you ever had a problem and you didn't know it! Have you ever bitten into something that was rotten and you didn't know it because it looked alright from the outside surface? Well, I have! What's more, Jonah definitely has! Did you know that unforgiveness grows and gets worse over time? We can go from being offended and hurt to wishing for someone's demise! The scariest level in my opinion, is going from wanted to see the lost get found…as a christian, to wanting the lost to stay lost!! Yikes!!! Jonah was there and he didn't even know it! Honestly, I've been there and I didn't even know it!!


Jonah 3:10 reads, 


10 When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, he relented and did not bring on them the destruction he had threatened.

Jonah 4 reads,

Jonah’s Anger at the Lord’s Compassion

4 But to Jonah this seemed very wrong, and he became angry. 2 He prayed to the Lord, “Isn’t this what I said, Lord, when I was still at home? That is what I tried to forestall by fleeing to Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity. 3 Now, Lord, take away my life, for it is better for me to die than to live.”

4 But the Lord replied, “Is it right for you to be angry?”

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[a] 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?”

I love that it talks about worms, don't you? Jonah did not want God to forgive those people…and see them be blessed! He was so sure that God would implement justice his way, that he waited to see what would happen to the city, even after God had relented in chapter 3!! 

Have you ever wanted your way so badly that you'd rather die than give it up to God? Have you ever wanted justice your way so badly that you'd rather see others die than live?? I have!! Friends, like a worm that destroys, a heart that is not fully yielded to God's plan and design produces some pretty rotten apples.

When God's plan makes your squirm, there's a good chance you've got some worms!!

Yes indeed! God's ways are not our ways and His plans are not our plans…but…rest assured in this fact, They are better…It's coming…the better part of the other side of the mountain…It's coming and the end is beautiful!!