This week has been brutal. I've been constantly on the run, flitting between class, and workshops, and teaching, and meetings, and Taewkondo, and GLEE club, and trying to find time to squeeze in making lesson plans and studying writing every day in between all of the other things that need to get done. And I am tired.
All I want to do is sleep. It's been such a hectic week; I can't imagine having another week like this next week. And to add to that, it's hot and rainy pretty much all of the time. Everyone has been sluggish and grumpy. The heat here seeps down into your very soul. The rain leaves you feeling constantly water-logged. The weather has a tangible impact on everyone's moods. Sometimes the lethargy and exhaustion is so think you could almost cut it with a knife. Korean classes are a drag - especially the last hour (of course that may also have something to do with the fact that our teachers are trying to pound into our heads in 4 hours the amount of information that most students learn in 2 weeks).
I, too, find myself with a short temper sometimes. I use my exhaustion as an excuse for not exemplifying Christ. I reason with myself, assuring myself that everyone knows we're all tired and stressed; they'll understand if I don't always react like I should. Isn't that such a common response? We're so lazy, really. So many times as Christians, we only want to show Jesus and love others if it's easy, if we're comfortable. But when it gets the lest bit difficult, then we start complaining and only thinking about ourselves.
But Jesus died for us. He prayed for His murderers while He was hanging on that cross, gasping out his last few breathes. And we were called to be "Little Christs." Don't you think that means that we should be able to stand a little bit of discomfort and still exemplify Him to others?
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 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?”
All I want to do is sleep. It's been such a hectic week; I can't imagine having another week like this next week. And to add to that, it's hot and rainy pretty much all of the time. Everyone has been sluggish and grumpy. The heat here seeps down into your very soul. The rain leaves you feeling constantly water-logged. The weather has a tangible impact on everyone's moods. Sometimes the lethargy and exhaustion is so think you could almost cut it with a knife. Korean classes are a drag - especially the last hour (of course that may also have something to do with the fact that our teachers are trying to pound into our heads in 4 hours the amount of information that most students learn in 2 weeks).
I, too, find myself with a short temper sometimes. I use my exhaustion as an excuse for not exemplifying Christ. I reason with myself, assuring myself that everyone knows we're all tired and stressed; they'll understand if I don't always react like I should. Isn't that such a common response? We're so lazy, really. So many times as Christians, we only want to show Jesus and love others if it's easy, if we're comfortable. But when it gets the lest bit difficult, then we start complaining and only thinking about ourselves.
But Jesus died for us. He prayed for His murderers while He was hanging on that cross, gasping out his last few breathes. And we were called to be "Little Christs." Don't you think that means that we should be able to stand a little bit of discomfort and still exemplify Him to others?
Jonah 4:1-11
1 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 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?”
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