I love going to the apple orchard in the fall. The leaves are changing colors, there is a chill in the air, and the season beckons to change. The moment my tires crunched the gravel drive of the orchard, the sweet aroma of fresh donuts and apple cider permeated the air. My mouth watered as I contemplated which donut I wanted, a glazed apple donut or a glazed pumpkin donut. I couldn’t decide so I ordered (and ate) one of each! This is an annual trip for my family. We make our rounds from the donut counter to the corn maze, to the U-Pick area to get a bag full of Red Delicious, Honey Crisp, and maybe some Golden Delicious apples, and finally to the pumpkin patch. It was in the pumpkin patch I was reminded of Jonah.
Upon entering the pumpkin patch, my family spreads out in strategic fashion. We take a centuriation system approach to cover the geometric area as we search for the elusive ‘perfect’ pumpkin. It was there that the concept of seeking shelter invaded my thought. The white pumpkin itself wasn’t much to look at. I imagine hundreds of people passed it by with hardly a glance. But not me. It captured me. The lone white pumpkin was sitting in the shadow of a giant pumpkin leaf that grew up directly over the top of the pumpkin shading it, giving it shelter from the sun.
Resting in the quiet of my mind, I pondered that after Jonah ran from God, was swallowed and vomited by a giant fish, prophesized over Nineveh, and was displeased and angry at God, Jonah built a shelter to protect himself from the scorching sun and waited to see if God was going to destroy Nineveh (Jonah 4:1-4). I imagine Jonah’s shelter was probably a crude, quickly built, inadequate shelter; not suitable to protect him from his environment. A feeble attempt. I also recalled how I, at times, built my own feeble, temporary, crude, quickly built, and inadequate ‘shelters’ to protect me; not from the scorching sun however, but rather, from hurts, wounds, self-doubts, failures, let downs, and disappointments. Yep, just like Jonah, I became a builder of shelters rather than a seeker of God’s loving embrace-God’s promises. Am I the only one?? Have you built shelters to protect yourself? To protect yourself from being hurt again, abandoned, mistreated, judged, embarrassed, or devalued. Shelters take many forms. Many seek shelter in codependent relationships, drugs or alcohol, others in sex, and others in avoidance behaviors such as gaming, or busyness (any workaholics out there?).
In the song titled ‘Gimme Shelter’ The Rolling Stones sought shelter from war and pestilence. In the 1970 hit ‘Who’ll Stop the Rain’, John Forgerty, of Creedence Clearwater Revival, sought shelter from ‘the storm.’ Christian recording artist Pat Barrett sings, “Shelter, I need your shelter, hide me away from the harm, away from it all.” Abraham Maslow, an American psychologist and creator of the well-known ‘Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs’, list the need for shelter as foundational if one hopes to achieve self-actualization. We all seek shelter.
What are you seeking shelter from?
The book of Jonah is rich with themes (obedience, reluctance, God’s sovereignty over creation, grace and mercy). Shelter is not usually a theme we think of when we consider the book of Jonah. But it’s in there. Let’s pick back up in the 6th verse of the 4th chapter, “So the Lord God appointed a plant and it grew up over Jonah to be a shade over his head to deliver him from his discomfort. And Jonah was extremely happy about the plant” (Jonah 4:6). Jonah’s shelter was inadequate. Our shelters are inadequate. Author L.R. Knost writes, “Do not be dismayed by the brokenness of the world. All things break…” Our temporary shelters break. They are not designed to withstand the brokenness of the world. Only God can do that.
As I lingered in the quiet sanctuary of the pumpkin patch, twisting vines at my feet, my thoughts turned upward. God showed Jonah that His love, His mercy, and His compassion are universal. God showed Jonah, and us, He is our shelter, He is our provider, and He is the author of providential care. No matter what you need shelter from, God is the only shelter that weathers every storm and shades you from harm. The palmist writes, “The LORD watches over you—the LORD is your shade at your right hand; the sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night” (Ps. 121:5-6). I also love the verse in the gospel of Matthew that says “And if God cares so wonderfully for the wildflowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, He will certainly care for you. Why do you have so little faith?” (Mt. 6:30). God will shelter you, just look at the little white pumpkin sitting in a pumpkin patch.
Dr. Troy Masengale is a licensed professional counselor at the Christian Counseling Center of Battle Creek.