We are all probably familiar with Jonah and the great storm–the wind. We all know about Jonah and the great fish–the whale. However, there’s another bit of the book of Jonah…I personally never heard a lot about– Jonah and the worm. It doesn’t sound as impactful as Jonah and the whale, but the worm was just as dangerous, just as deadly, and even more destructive. 

Jonah 4:5-11 So Jonah went out of the city, and sat on the east side of the city, and there made him a booth, and sat under it in the shadow, till he might see what would become of the city. And the Lord God prepared a gourd, and made it to come up over Jonah, that it might be a shadow over his head, to deliver him from his grief. So Jonah was exceeding glad of the gourd. But God prepared a worm when the morning rose the next day, and it smote the gourd that it withered.  And it came to pass, when the sun did arise, that God prepared a vehement east wind; and the sun beat upon the head of Jonah, that he fainted, and wished in himself to die, and said, It is better for me to die than to live. And God said to Jonah, Doest thou well to be angry for the gourd? And he said, I do well to be angry, even unto death. Then said the Lord, Thou hast had pity on the gourd, for the which thou hast not laboured, neither madest it grow; which came up in a night, and perished in a night: and should not I spare Nineveh, that great city, wherein are more than six score thousand persons that cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand; and also much cattle?

Unlike the the wind and the whale, Jonah didn’t see the worm coming. It was burrowing inside the gourd. Without ever being seen, it just ate its way through. It killed the plant. I feel that in my life I’ve done much the same. I weathered the big things, but then I let the little things gnaw their way into my life. The worms aren’t big but they are voracious. They are never satisfied.Much like the little foxes in Song of Solomon, these small things cause BIG problems. Isn’t it the same with the little things, worry, fear, doubt…These things rob us of joy, comfort and contentment, Small things keep hacking at us and leave us unprotected, weak, and depressed. Each day I pray that I watch out for those little pests, that I remember to count my blessings and give God the glory for all He has done for me. The Lord has done great things for me! I also pray that God will give me and all of you the ability to recognize the “worms” in our lives, so that they don’t cause destruction.