Neville Goddard on Jonah 4:10 - Mystical Bible Interpretation

Read Jonah 4 in context

Scripture Focus

10Then 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:

Jonah 4:10

Biblical Context

God rebukes Jonah for pitying a plant he did not labor for, showing that mercy is not earned by labor. Providence governs what blooms and fades, inviting trust rather than toil.

Neville's Inner Vision

Imagine the plant as a symbol of every favorable condition you have yet to labor for. The Lord’s rebuke is not a grievance against pity itself, but a reminder that mercy operates through your inner state, not your outward exertion. In Neville’s terms, you are the I AM, the awareness that selects and sustains what you experience. If you find yourself grieving a bloom you did not labor to grow, realize you are treating Providence as distant rather than as your own inner law. The gourd’s brief appearance and its swift demise teach you to trust the inner economy of consciousness: growth arises where you rest in being, not where you chase results. Therefore revise the scene in your mind: the plant flourishes because awareness chooses it; it fades when you doubt. Feel it real that you are already provided for by an unseen power within you, and that mercy is a function of your stated I AM, not your labor. This is grace in action.