Is It Right For You To Be Angry?

Around mid-January, the Lord was dealing with me greatly about His grace and mercy. I had a hard time understanding why He was so gracious to other people, especially when I perceived they took it for granted, or didn’t deserve it. In January, the Lord kept reminding me of Jonah and asking me the question, is it right for you to be angry? Me being foolish at the time, I would respond “yes, yes I do have the right.” In reality it was not right for me to be angry. 

For starters, you and I are not the Judge, only God is. Isaiah 33:22 states, “For the Lord is our Judge, The Lord is our Lawgiver, The Lord is our King; He will save us;” (Isaiah 33:22 NKJV). Romans 9:15-16 tells us, “For He says to Moses, ‘I will have mercy on whomever I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whomever I will have compassion.’ So then it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy” (Romans 9:15-16 NKJV). It is not up to you and I who get to decide who deserves mercy or grace, it is solely up to the Lord. When we get into that judging mindset, we are essentially saying that we are God. Scripture says that we should not judge others. For the same measure you judge others, you will be judged also. (read Matthew 7:1-3).

Let’s get into the story of Jonah. Jonah was a prophet, who was commissioned by the Lord to speak to the people of Nineveh (Read Jonah 1:1-2). Instead of following the Lord’s instruction, Jonah decided to flee (Read Jonah 1:3). As we may all know, the Lord sends a mighty storm causing the sailors to be terrified. Jonah confesses that he is the reason for the storm and he tells the men to throw him overboard. Reluctant at first, the sailors throw Jonah overboard and the storm ceases (read Jonah 1:4-17). Jonah is then swallowed by a great fish and is in the belly of the fish for three days. Jonah then prays to the Lord, and the fish spits Jonah out on the shore (Read Jonah chapter 2). The Lord gives Jonah the command a second time to go out and speak to the people of Nineveh. Jonah obeys the Lord and speaks to the people of Nineveh. The people of Nineveh harken unto the Lord and repent of their sins. By doing so, the Lord showed mercy and compassion towards them and decided not to destroy them (Read Jonah chapter 3). Now that seems like a wonderful ending, but Jonah said, “Not on my watch!!!” (he did not say this actually).

Let’s get into chapter four.

1 This change of plan greatly upset Jonah, and he became very angry. 2 So he complained to the Lord about it: “Didn’t I say before I left home that you would do this, Lord? That is why I ran away to Tarshish! I knew that you are a merciful and compassionate God, slow to anger and filled with unfailing love. You are eager to turn back from destroying people. 3 Just kill me now, Lord! I’d rather be dead than alive if what I predicted will not happen” (Jonah 4:1-3 NLT).

Jonah was livid that the Lord decided not to destroy the city of Nineveh, so much so that he wanted the Lord to kill him. I have felt like Jonah before. I wanted the Lord to deal with people greatly, you know like a good love tap, border line rock bottom. Instead of the Lord handing out TKO’s (total knockout), He would show them his unfailing love, mercy, compassion, and grace. It would be safe to say, I would be left flabbergasted.

Let’s continue.

4 The Lord replied, “Is it right for you to be angry about this?” 5 Then Jonah went out to the east side of the city and made a shelter to sit under as he waited to see what would happen to the city. 6 And the Lord God arranged for a leafy plant to grow there, and soon it spread its broad leaves over Jonah’s head, shading him from the sun. This eased his discomfort, and Jonah was very grateful for the plant. 7 But God also arranged for a worm! The next morning at dawn the worm ate through the stem of the plant so that it withered away. 8 And as the sun grew hot, God arranged for a scorching east wind to blow on Jonah. The sun beat down on his head until he grew faint and wished to die. “Death is certainly better than living like this!’ he exclaimed. (Jonah 4:4-8 NLT).

Now this part will make you love God even more.

9 Then God said to Jonah, “Is it right for you to be angry because the plant died?” “Yes” Jonah retorted, “even angry enough to die!” 10 Then the Lord said, “You feel sorry for this plant, though you did nothing to put it there. It came quickly and died quickly. 11 But Nineveh has more than 120,000 people living in spiritual darkness, not to mention all the animals. Shouldn’t I feel sorry for such a great city?” (Jonah 4:9-11 NLT).

I don’t know about you, but I am rejoicing. The Lord told Jonah that he should not be angry at the fact that He showed mercy and compassion to the people of Nineveh. In fact, Jonah should be rejoicing that the Lord allowed them to see their wrong and gave them an opportunity to repent and to turn back to Him. Rejoice, brothers and sisters when the Lord shows grace to those who have lost their way. He loves them so much that He does not want them to perish. We serve a mighty God.

Take the time to just give God praise. It is because of His mercies that we have not been consumed. Because His compassions fail not. It is His  hand of protection that we are here today, when others did not have that chance. We could be sleeping in our graves and be dead to sin, but He saw fit to lay down His life so that we may live again. So we thank you Lord.