Jonah 3:10-4:4…“‘And now, O LORD, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.’ And the LORD said, ‘Is it right for you to be angry?’” vss. 3-4
The story of Jonah probably catches our attention because of the great swallowing fish that shows up to rescue Jonah from certain death, but to focus on that is to miss the conversation he has with the Lord about his anger. Jonah did not love the people of Nineveh and had nothing but contempt for their foreign ways, and he looked forward to seeing their destruction. So when the Lord spared the city, he became very angry, so angry that he wanted to die.
Anger is familiar to us, and at various times in our lives we have become very angry, maybe even so angry that we wanted to die. There are many things that can trigger that anger. It could be because of some familial dispute, an occasion when a loved one has done or said something that has triggered deep feelings, a time when we’ve lost our temper. Occasionally anger pops up in response to societal matters, times when we’ve witnessed horrible injustice, and innocent people have suffered. We might even call this justifiable anger.
And then there are the times when we, like Jonah, have gotten angry with God and cry out in rage against the unfairness of life itself. In the end, it’s a natural part of life in this good and broken world. And sometimes it’s the first step on the way to healing.
Thought for the Day: What makes me angry?
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