Scripture: Micah 7:18 NLT Where is another God like you,
who pardons the guilt of the remnant,
overlooking the sins of his special people?
You will not stay angry with your people forever,
because you delight in showing unfailing love.
Devotion: There are many different attributes of God, and there are likely ones that come to mind first when you think about Him. Perhaps you think of His goodness, graciousness, and loving-kindness. Or maybe you tend to think first about His justice, omnipotence, and sovereignty. All of these are certainly true of our God. But one of the attributes of God that we can often overlook is how He is slow to anger.
We see a wonderful example of this in our reading from today. Nineveh was a place filled with wickedness and violence. They did not know God and they acted as such. It was so terrible that Jonah fled the opposite direction when the Lord told him to go there. But in this passage, we see that Jonah was able to give them a harsh warning about their fate if they did not turn from their wicked ways. And he was able to give that with a timeline. The Lord was giving them plenty of time to repent.
And they did. “When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, he relented and did not bring on them the destruction he had threatened” (Jonah 3:10). Our God is a God who chases after us. Much like he chased after those in Nineveh, calling for repentance from the sin but giving grace and granting mercy when they did repent, He does the same for us.
He wants us to confess our sins to Him. 1 John 1:9 says, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” What this verse doesn’t say is that as soon as you or I sin, God no longer loves us. No, what it reminds us of is that He is faithful to forgive us and cleanse us from it. Because of Jesus, the penalty for our sin has been paid. We just need to give it over. We are never too far gone, for our God is slow to anger. He is steadfast in love. And He sent the ultimate sacrifice and Redeemer for us.
Psalm 103:8 says, “The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love.”
Reflect:
- What does it mean to you that the Lord is slow to anger? How have you seen that in your own life?