Devotion 11/10: Jonah 4:1-4

But it displeased Jonah exceedingly,

and he was angry.  

And he prayed to the Lord and said,

“O Lord, is not this what I said

when I was yet in my country?

That is why I made haste to flee to Tarshish;

for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful,

slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love,

and relenting from disaster.

Therefore now, O Lord,

please take my life from me,

for it is better for me to die than to live.”

And the Lord said,

“Do you do well to be angry?”.

Jonah 4:1-4

 

Guest Devotion Writer – Pastor Nate Wolcott

 

This morning, at least 59 million people in our country alone are upset with how things turned out.  Many will fail to move to Canada, but are wondering if life would be better there.  Some are questioning why God let it turn out this way.  If the votes had gone the other direction, much would be the same except Canada would have been exchanged for Texas.  Either way, times come when We don’t much like the meal God sets before us.

 

Jonah didn’t like the meal God set before him.  He hated the Ninevites, but God wanted him to go and preach repentance to them so that they might be spared destruction.  Jonah had a great respect for God’s ability to work a miracle through preaching, he just didn’t like the implications.  So he got angry, and ended up sitting and watching Nineveh, hoping that God would do what Jonah wanted instead of what God wanted.

 

Many times we get mad at God.  We might be embarrassed to admit it, and we know at some level that being mad at God is not right.  After all, God never does anything wrong, so if I’m mad about something, I guess the wrong one is ME, right? 

 

Often this keeps us from praying and talking with God.

 

Yes, we are wrong when we’re mad at God, but the good news is that it’s OKAY.  Note that Jonah is mad, but God’s answer to his anger is a question.  It’s a question that is supposed to make Jonah consider and process through the emotion.  God doesn’t answer with a thunderbolt and offense at the nerve of the guy!  As the book of Jonah concludes, we see a tender God teaching Jonah through the life and death of a plant that God is a God of mercy, and Jonah deep down understands.  God leads Jonah into a deeper understanding of His merciful nature.  He does it even when Jonah is being a pill about it!  That’s what God does when we’re angry with him: tenderly grows us so that we better understand him, and trust in him.

 

As one of my Pastor-friends told me, “it’s okay to tell God you’re mad at him.  Hey, he already KNOWS, right?”  He takes joy in bringing you out of your anger and into peace and understanding.

 

Are you angry with God?  Are you mad about how things have turned out for you?  Go start a conversation with God.  You don’t have to stop being angry first.  He’s secure enough in himself to hear you out, and then answer in mercy.

 

Come as you are, but by all means COME.

 

For the King who is gentle

when we’re angry with him,

Pastor Nate Wolcott