WHEN GRACE FEELS UNCOMFORTABLE

Sometimes God’s grace doesn’t make sense. We love to sing about it, talk about it, and thank Him for it — until it starts extending to people we think don’t deserve it. That’s what happened to Jonah.

Jonah wasn’t an outsider to faith. He was a prophet — a man who knew God, knew His voice, and knew His Word. Yet when God told him to go to Nineveh, Jonah ran. He wasn’t confused. He was offended. God was asking him to show mercy to people who had been cruel to Jonah’s own nation. It’s one thing to preach grace to the broken; it’s another to extend grace to your enemy.

Jonah’s story exposes something deep within many believers — the temptation to limit grace. We want grace for ourselves but justice for others. Yet God’s grace doesn’t have borders. The same grace that draws Him near to us is the same grace that draws Him near to those who’ve hurt us.

Spiritual maturity means letting God expand your definition of grace. It means learning to trust that His compassion is not weakness, and His mercy is not unfairness. When God forgives someone you wouldn’t, He’s not excusing their sin — He’s revealing the depth of His heart.

Jonah fled to Tarshish because God’s grace violated his sense of fairness. Many of us still do the same. We run from hard conversations, avoid difficult people, and resist forgiving others because grace offends our pride. But here’s the beautiful irony: the grace that offends us is also the grace that sustains us.

Jonah ran, but God pursued him. The Lord didn’t abandon him to rebellion. Instead, He chased Jonah down — not to punish him, but to redeem him. The same God who pursued Jonah pursues every runaway heart today.

So, if you find yourself wrestling with God’s grace — if it feels too generous, too unfair, or too uncomfortable — remember this: grace was never meant to be comfortable. It’s meant to be transformative. Let it stretch you, soften you, and shape you until your heart looks a little more like His.