Do You Do Well to Be Angry?

In the fourth chapter of the book of Jonah, Jonah is supremely ticked off! He wants his enemies punished for their violent misdeeds, but God has opted for grace-filled, restorative justice rather than hate-filled, retributive justice. Jonah storms off in anger and claims he would rather die than live in a world where God shows mercy to "those people."

God's response to Jonah's anger is pure gold. Rather than insult, lecture or condemn Jonah, God asks him this grace-filled question, "Do you do well to be angry?"

As we lead up to the presidential election in the United States, we are being bombarded by attempts to make us angry. Apparently the angrier a voter is about the opposition, the likelier they are to vote for the candidate who is on "their side," "the right side," "the morally superior side." Fomenting anger has become a very effective vote-getting strategy. And, we have fallen into the trap - getting angrier and angrier and angrier and seeking retribution rather than the restoration of relationships.

Instead of insulting, lecturing or condemning us, however, I imagine our eternally loving God asking us this grace-filled question, "Do you do well to be angry?"

Let us not to allow anger to take center stage. When your blood pressure rises and you are tempted to forget that the person with whom you disagree is also a beloved child of God, I encourage you to ask yourself this... "Do you do well to be angry?"

Our God is gracious, merciful, abounding in steadfast love, quick to forgive and slow to anger (Jonah 4:2) Created in God's image, we can be too...