"I called out to the Lord, out of my distress, and He answered me; out of the belly of Sheol [big fish] I cried." After the fish vomitted Jonah, he went to Ninevah in a day journey. "And he called out, 'Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthown!' And the people of Nineveh believed God. They called for a fast and put on sackcloth from the greatest of them to the least of them... [So God didn't overthown them because He was pleased with them]... But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was angry." But the Lord rebuked Jonah as He appointed a worm to attack the plant so that the scorching sun beat down on the head of Jonah. I love it when God appointed His animals to teach us, humans, some lessons about our attitude! Instead of feeling blessed by the Lord to be His vessel to bring the city into repentance, Jonah grumbled! Do you grumble like Jonah when God used you to bring a change? Would you grumble when God is leading you to be an advocate to someone you envied or so hated, and they ended up changed through your leadership?
Wrong attitude leads to wrong attitude. Jonah began with the wrong attitude, he reluctantly went to Ninevah. Since he didn't want to do it out of his love for the Lord, he continued doing things with a wrong attitude! Even thought God used him to lead the city to repentance, he was unhappy for he didn't really understood God's heart. God's joy didn't bring a joy to Jonah's heart. Jonah followed his own attitude instead of giving up his wrong attitude to replace his attitude with God's attitude! Jonah had the had-to attitude while Paul had the want-to attitude when God called them to do things to glorify Him. Had-to attitude is unfulfilling, while want-to attitude is fulfilling.
Paul would go anywhere God led him. He would have to flee the city at night by having Christians lower him down a gate wall using a basket. Then in Arabia, he was personally taught by Jesus for three years. In Jerusalem, he was rejected by Christians, but Barnabas took him to encourage him, so he was finally accepted! But by other death threats, he had to leave Jerusalem to go back to his hometown, Tarus, where he stayed for 4 years. Then Barnabas called Paul to go with him to Antioch to teach for an entire year. Then they aided few years of famine and returned to Antioch. He continued to serve the Lord with the right attitude for 11 years as a true Christian (around 33 AD to 44 AD) before he went to his first real missionary (evangelistic) journey with Barnabas, which must have established his character for those upcoming storms in his life that will bring the many back to Him.
"About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them, and suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundatins of the prison were shaken. And immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone's bonds were unfastened." Even more, the research indicated that Apostle Paul spends roughly 5 1/2 to 6 years as a prisoner or in prison although their time in Philippian prison wasn't specific, so we don't know how long they prayed and sang! But the difference is that Paul didn't resent the fact that other Christians didn't went through what he went through! He allowed God to be God, so he brings the joy with him through any trails!
Instead of letting the bitterness or resentment to creep into his mind, he eliminated them BY CLINGING ON TO THE INNER JOY by meditating upon Him day and night! If you have the Jonah-attitude, then you probably need to bloom into Paul-attitude by years of character building in Him through any circumstances. Today is the day we shall commit to begin/continue our character building, won't we?!
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