No Right To Be Angry

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Jonah 4:4 But the LORD replied, "Have you any right to be angry?"

2 Timothy 2:24 And the Lord's servant must not quarrel; instead, he must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful.

Jonah was a prophet of God and the Lord told him to go to Nineveh to preach against it. Jonah knew that God was warning the city to repent and so he ran in another direction. Jonah deliberately disobeyed God because he thought Nineveh deserved their punishment. God makes Jonah obey Him by having Jonah swallowed by a huge fish. When the fish vomits him out, Jonah goes straight to Nineveh, and sure enough, they heeded his prophesy and repented. Jonah got angry. He said that it would be better for him to be dead than living. God then replies to Jonah, “Have you any right to be angry?” Jonah indeed had no right to be angry. Paul instructs Timothy, but he might as well be instructing Jonah too. Paul says that a servant of the Lord must not argue, but instead be kind to everyone. A servant of the Lord must be able to teach, but not be resentful. It seems that Jonah was resentful. Jonah was not kind to the people of Nineveh. God wanted to show Jonah that it was not a concern of Jonah to judge these people. God loved the people of Nineveh, and that is why Jonah needed to prophesy against them.

I can relate to Jonah. Many times I get angry at what God tells me to do. I think to myself, doesn’t He know how badly they hurt me, or doesn’t God know that this person will only sin again? Why do I have to intervene? If I just do nothing, then they will get what’s coming to them. Well, that may be true, but then their blood is on my head. God will not let me go on my merry way, avoiding obedience to Him. I am a servant of the Lord. I cannot choose when I will obey nor do I have a right to get angry at God. To conquer this common pitfall of pride, I must remember Paul’s instruction to Timothy. I must not quarrel. It’s easy to pick a fight with someone that doesn’t see things the way I do. I don’t like fighting, but I know that fighting doesn’t only mean verbal arguing. The Greek word is Macomai, which means of those who contend at law for property and privileges (Strong’s). So I mustn’t feel a sense of privilege because we are all equal at the foot of the cross. I must be kind to everyone. I get mad sometimes because I know that people step all over me for being kind. I tell God, “Why do I have to kind to this person? They only take it for granted!” or “They don’t appreciate my kindness!” I must be kind because it serves the Lord. No if’s and’s or but’s. Also, I must be able to teach. I must know God’s word so that when God tells me to teach, I am able to. Teaching others is different from giving them what they need for the moment. As the saying goes, “Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day, but teach a man to fish and he will eat for a lifetime.” Most of all, I must not be resentful. I think God has really been working on this within me. I tend to do a lot of things with resentment. I’m really good at putting on the appearance that I really like doing it, but deep down inside, I’ll be feeling forced or controlled. I need to stop doing this. I need Jesus to bring healing to this wound so that I can do all things out of joy with love.

Heavenly Father, please forgive me for sinning. I have no right to be angry. Thank you for Your grace and patience with me. Lord, show me how to be more like You. Help me to apply these characteristics to my own so that I will not feel entitlement or resentment, but instead be kind and able to teach. May Your word never depart from my heart. Lord, I pray for the salvation of my family and friends who don’t know You. Lord, I pray that they would pursue You with all their hearts! I thank You for my husband and I pray that You would fill him with Your strength and joy today. In the name of Jesus Christ I pray, Amen.