BIBLE PASSAGE:
But the Lord replied, “Have you any right to be angry?”
(Jonah 4:4)
MEDITATION:
Have you ever had something happen that you felt was
orchestrated by God and thought, “That’s just not fair!”
When God is fulfilling His will for our lives, but it doesn’t
match or align with our own will, we can react with strong
emotions, can’t we? One emotion we might feel is – anger.
Jonah was angry when the people of Nineveh repented. It sounds
like something that should have pleased Jonah, doesn’t it? But
we need to back up to the root of Jonah’s problem. Jonah was
mad now, because he had a dislike for the people of Nineveh that
had never gone away, even after they repented.
He hated the people of Nineveh and wanted God to wipe them off
the face of the earth. When God called him to go and preach to the
people of Nineveh, he went in another direction as he tried to run
and hide from God.
Sounds crazy, doesn’t it? But how often do we run from what God
wants us to do? He calls us to serve Him, but we say, “No”, and go
in another direction. Why would we do that? Is it because God is
asking us to do something that doesn’t align with our desires?
Or could it be a fear in us that we are not qualified to ‘answer His call’
because it means we would have to leave our ‘comfort zone’? How many
of us allow ourselves to be controlled by this type of thinking which causes
us to ignore or refuse His ‘call’?
We might ask ourselves,
“Has God confused me with someone else?”
“Doesn’t God know I’m incapable of serving Him in this way?”
We should ask ourselves,
“Would God call me to serve without providing all
I need to accomplish His desire for my involvement?”
Why wasn’t Jonah excited about God calling him to be involved
in the repentance of the people of Nineveh by preaching to them?
Because he knew that if he obeyed God, they would repent and be
accepted by God, and Jonah didn’t want that to happen.
When God saw what they did and how they turned from their
evil ways, He relented and did not bring on them the destruction
He had threatened. But to Jonah this seemed very wrong, and he
became angry. He prayed to the LORD, “Isn’t this what I said,
LORD, when I was still at home? That is what I tried to forestall
by fleeing to Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and
compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love,
a God who relents from sending calamity.
(Jonah 3:10-4:2)
He allowed his hatred to prevent him from enjoying the blessings
God had for him as well. Jonah hated the Ninevites so much that
he thought,
“If I refuse to preach, then they won’t
repent and God will wipe them out”
Think about that for a second and compare his actions
to our own actions when we have the wrong attitudes.
How many times have we missed out on God’s blessings
due to our own attitudes?
We may not hate others to the level Jonah did, but Satan
can influence our thinking to such a degree that we fail to
be grateful for how God chooses to bless someone else. And
when we react in that manner, it is often driven by a type of
jealousy or envy.
We should want others to be blessed by God and be excited
whenever He wants our participation in blessing them. We
might have to forfeit our selfish focus on ourselves, but when
we do, we can also be blessed by God because we have served
where He has called us.
After Jonah’s ‘close encounter with a giant fish’, he finally
obeyed God and preached to the Ninevites, and guess what
happened? The people repented! Instead of being grateful
for how effectively God was using him, Jonah became angry.
Look at the level of Jonah’s emotions just before God asked
him about his right to be angry:
“Now, LORD, take away my life, for
it is better for me to die than to live.”
(Jonah 4:3)
Do we react the same way as Jonah when God’s will is different
than our will? If we do, then we’re going to miss out on enjoying
how God can bless others through us. When it’s God’s desire to
do something, He can choose anyone of us to be involved.
If He has chosen us and we refuse, He will use someone else, but
consider the great blessings from Him we have forfeited. What
would cause us to ignore or refuse His call? Simply stated, it’s
because we want things our way, and not God’s way, right?
The root of Jonah’s anger and hatred was selfishness. We should
ask ourselves,
“How often does my inner self-centeredness
arouse the wrong emotions in my own life?”
ACTION:
When God asked Jonah what gave him the right to be angry,
He may have been challenging Jonah to admit that his attitude
of hatred was the cause of his anger. When we openly and honestly
admit our anger, we will discover that most of the time it is being
driven by our selfishness. We want things the way we want them,
and when they are different, we don’t like it!
God may be challenging you to admit you have some wrong attitudes
that are preventing you from being obedient to His will. Ask yourself
if you have ever felt God wanted you to do something, but you chose
your will over His will.
If you did, then ask yourself why you refused to answer His call.
We should never argue with our Heavenly Father over the things
we should do and not do. When He calls us to serve Him, He will
provide all that we need to succeed.
If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God
provides, so that in all things God may be praised through
Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory and the power for ever
and ever.
(1 Peter 4:11)
Make no mistake about it, when God saves us, He will call us
to serve in some way. It is our responsibility to seek and find
the spiritual gift He has given us. And when we discover our
spiritual gift, we should be listening for His call to use it in
serving Him.
How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who
through the eternal Spirit offered Himself unblemished
to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to
death, so that we may serve the living God!
(Hebrews 9:14)
Pray,
“Heavenly Father, forgive me if I have allowed my attitudes
to prevent me from being obedient to You. Help me to realize
that whenever I obey Your will, not only will I see how You
are blessing others, but I can also enjoy Your blessings for
me. Forgive me if I have been selfish and refused to obey
You and Your commands. Teach me to change my attitudes
so I can enjoy serving You in whatever way You have chosen
for me. Help me to know that if You call me to an area of
service, You will also equip me with all that I need to serve
in that capacity. I pray that I will surrender to Your will
and be grateful that You have chosen to use me.”
BLOG: utvolwoody.wordpress.com
BREAD FOR BELIEVERS 
Discussion
No comments yet.