Jonah had fled to Joppa to avoid ministering to the people of Nineveh. For Jonah, he felt justified in disobeying and seeking to escape the will of God rather than to speak to the Ninevites. Eventually, after praying and confessing to God while in the belly of the fish, he made his way to Nineveh, and to his surprise, a great revival took place. Sadly, Jonah preached without love in his heart for the people and secretly longed for their demise. The book of Jonah ends with God asking him, “should not I pity Nineveh..? (Jonah 4:11).” Nearly eight centuries later, Peter found himself at Joppa, and he was praying to God from a rooftop. God took the time to confront Peter about his reluctance to minister to the Gentiles by displaying a sheet filled with unclean animals with the command to kill and eat. Peter refused three times. A number Peter was all too familiar with as it reflected how many times he denied His Lord.

Peter would eventually realize that God was talking to him about Cornelius and his family, as well as all the Gentiles that he was apprehensive to meet. For Peter, the disgust of unclean animals was equivalent to the contempt he shared towards his neighbors, who happened to be Gentiles. As God had worked on the heart of Jonah, so God was working on the heart of Peter. Thankfully Peter overcame his bias towards this Roman centurion and found out that God loved them just as much as he loved the other believers and showed no partiality (Acts 10:34).

 Today God is working on our hearts to rid us of hatred, malice, and supremacy over others. God loved Jonah and he loved Peter, and He did great things through them, but He wanted to do greater. Today, I believe that God loves His church immensely and wants to do greater through us, so He is agitating us to put aside our differences and love each other. If you pray to God, don’t be surprised if he pushes you towards those you are not comfortable around. Both Jonah and Peter were praying men, but God wanted to see their love demonstrated through their actions. We have a praying church, but God desires to see a loving church as well. Jesus ultimately said, “By this all people will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another (John 13:35).” If you are praying for peace, praying for church growth, praying for revival, then open your hearts to loving your neighbor as you love yourself.