Jonah 4 provides a striking picture. God appoints a plant to give Jonah shade, and Jonah greatly enjoys its comfort. But the next day, God appoints a worm to destroy the plant. Deprived of its shade, Jonah becomes furious and cries out, “It is better for me to die than to live” (Jon. 4:8).
Jonah’s reaction may seem overreactive or even embarrassing. But before we turn him into a caricature, we should pause and ask an uncomfortable question: If we were in Jonah’s place, how would we respond?
When God removes what we cherish, how do we think about Him? What do we learn about who He is and who we are? While these questions could be answered in many ways, Scripture presses two lessons on us in moments like this.
1. God Is Greater Than the Gifts He Gives
The first lesson Scripture presses upon us is this: God Himself is infinitely greater than the gifts He graciously places in our lives. However precious those gifts may be, they are never meant to rival the Giver.
Job: Worship Without Conditions
Few figures embody this truth more clearly than Job. Scripture introduces him as “blameless and upright, one who feared God and turned away from evil” (Job 1:1). When Job loses all his wealth, his servants, and even his seven sons and three daughters, his response is astonishing: “The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD” (Job 1:21).
Job does not deny his grief; he tears his robe and shaves his head. Yet he recognizes a deeper reality: everything he possessed was a gift, not a right. God, the Giver, remained worthy of worship even when the gifts were removed.
Abraham: Loving God More Than the Promise
Abraham learned the same lesson through an even more painful test. In Genesis 22, God commands him to offer Isaac, his beloved son, the child of promise, as a sacrifice (Gen. 22:1).
Humanly speaking, Abraham could have protested. He could have questioned God’s goodness or consistency. Instead, he rose early and obeyed. When God finally stopped him, He declared, “…for now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me” (Gen. 22:12).
The test was never about Isaac alone. It was about whether Abraham loved the gift more than the Giver. Mature faith learns that God is never merely a means to something else—He is the ultimate treasure, the ultimate gift.
A Personal Lesson in Loss
This truth became painfully real to me in August 2019. One late evening, I received one of the most devastating phone calls of my life from my dad: my oldest sister had been hospitalized with dengue fever, and doctors gave her only a two percent chance of survival. She was not only my sister but had also supported my education for seven years.
That night, my wife and I pleaded with God through tears, fully believing He could intervene. But God chose not to heal her permanently. Within the week, He took her home.
In that loss, God taught me a difficult but freeing truth: God owns what He gives. My sister belonged to Him before she was ever my sister. Accepting this did not erase the pain, but it brought clarity and freedom. There is a strange peace that comes when we stop pretending that God’s gifts are ours to control.
2. Our Reason for Righteousness Matters More Than the Reason for Our Suffering[1]
The second lesson may be even more searching: the Bible is often more concerned with why we worship God than with why we suffer.
The Foundational Question of Job
Many people approach the book of Job seeking answers to suffering. But Job never receives a full explanation for his pain. Instead, the book answers a different question: Why is Job righteous? Satan accuses Job of serving God only because God has blessed him. Remove the blessings, Satan argues, and Job’s faith will collapse. But Job proves him wrong again and again. Even when his health is destroyed and his wife urges him to curse God, Job responds: “Shall we receive good from God, and shall we not receive evil?” (Job 2:10).
Job’s righteousness is not transactional. He does not serve God for benefits. He serves God because God is God. He worships God because God is God.
We must be honest as we answer questions like: Why do we worship? Why do we fear God? Why do we give? Why do we obey? Why do we call ourselves followers of Christ? Is it because God is worthy, or because we expect something in return?
The prosperity gospel offers a dangerously shallow answer, promising health, wealth, and comfort as guarantees of faith. Scripture offers something far deeper and costlier: the call to take up the cross and follow Christ, even when obedience leads through suffering. God is everything—He is the greatest gift ever.
When God Is Enough
When God takes away what we love, He is not being cruel. He is revealing what or whom we truly treasure. The greatest gift God has ever given is not health, wealth, or security. The greatest gift is God Himself. He gave Himself to us in the incarnation, and He gave Himself fully on the cross. He is to be loved above all. He alone is worthy of worship.
If we have God, we ultimately have everything—even in loss. If we have everything, but not God, we have nothing.
Yes, we will grieve. Yes, we will be discouraged. But even in sorrow, faith teaches us to turn toward Him rather than away from Him. When we look to the cross and see the depth of God’s love, self-pity gives way to trust. God is greater than every gift He gives and He is enough—even when those gifts are taken away.
[1] I owe this reflection and understanding to John H. Walton, Job: The NIV Application First edition (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2012).
