Devotional

The Mercy We’d Rather Run From

A short midweek reflection to carry into your week.

February 4, 2026 Pastor Scott Uselman 4 min read

Part of the message: When Communities of People are Wicked

A meditation on what it means to love those who are hardest to love, based on Jonah’s reluctant obedience.

Scripture

¹ The word of the Lord came to Jonah son of Amittai: ² “Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me.” ³ But Jonah ran away from the Lord and headed for Tarshish. He went down to Joppa, where he found a ship bound for that port. After paying the fare, he went aboard and sailed for Tarshish to flee from the Lord. ⁴ Then the Lord sent a great wind on the sea, and such a violent storm arose that the ship threatened to break up. ⁵ All the sailors were afraid and each cried out to his own god. And they threw the cargo into the sea to lighten the ship. But Jonah had gone below deck, where he lay down and fell into a deep sleep. ⁶ The captain went to him and said, “How can you sleep? Get up and call on your god! Maybe he will take notice of us so that we will not perish.” ⁷ Then the sailors said to each other, “Come, let us cast lots to find out who is responsible for this calamity.” They cast lots and the lot fell on Jonah. ⁸ So they asked him, “Tell us, who is responsible for making all this trouble for us? What kind of work do you do? Where do you come from? What is your country? From what people are you?” ⁹ He answered, “I am a Hebrew and I worship the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land.” ¹⁰ This terrified them and they asked, “What have you done?” (They knew he was running away from the Lord, because he had already told them so.) ¹¹ The sea was getting rougher and rougher. So they asked him, “What should we do to you to make the sea calm down for us?” ¹² “Pick me up and throw me into the sea,” he replied, “and it will become calm. I know that it is my fault that this great storm has come upon you.” ¹³ Instead, the men did their best to row back to land. But they could not, for the sea grew even wilder than before. ¹⁴ Then they cried out to the Lord, “Please, Lord, do not let us die for taking this man’s life. Do not hold us accountable for killing an innocent man, for you, Lord, have done as you pleased.” ¹⁵ Then they took Jonah and threw him overboard, and the raging sea grew calm. ¹⁶ At this the men greatly feared the Lord, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows to him. ¹⁷ Now the Lord provided a huge fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.

There’s a part of Jonah’s story that finds us all: standing at the edge of town, heart pounding, wishing God had asked nearly anything but this. We read about Jonah running the other direction, and it’s easy to shake our heads. But the truth is, we each know some person, community, group, or neighborhood God seems to love far more than we are comfortable with. Maybe it’s the relative whose life hurts others. Maybe it’s a news headline we’d rather not pray for. Maybe it’s a wound we carry in ourselves, a bitterness from harm done or harm watched.

Jonah’s storm didn’t start at sea, but in a heart unwilling to want grace for his enemies. The whole ship was caught in it. How many ships in our world still are?

This week, pause to let God name honestly who your Nineveh is. Where do you see violence, hardness, or indifference and feel your own barriers go up? Where has coldness crept over your prayers, making you turn quietly away from the possibility of mercy?

The story presses us: God’s message is not just that evil must be named or punishment will come. The shocking word is that repentance is offered, even to the ones who have done the most wrong. And still, through His people, God sends the invitation.

Meditation focus: Who is it hardest for you to imagine receiving God’s mercy? Sit with that discomfort, and ask God to bring their face gently to mind.

Practical step: This week, find one simple way to act for the good of a person or group you struggle to love, an encouraging message, a meal, a prayer for blessing, without expecting anything back. Watch what rises up in your own heart as you do so.

Closing Prayer

God of mercy, we honor you as the one whose justice searches every heart and whose grace is always first. Today we submit again to your way, offering up our wounds, our anger, our sense of what is fair when it clashes with your goodness. We ask you to provide patience and courage to obey, even when we’d rather run, and to furnish us with a love that does not calculate who deserves it. Where we have withheld forgiveness, open our hands. Where we have wished for someone’s downfall, sow your kindness in us instead. Lead us away from bitterness and the fears that wall us off from the world you so love. Make us a people who bless our enemies and seek peace in the places that feel most lost. Keep us close to your heart and in the path you set. Amen.

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