Anger Issues

Have you any right to be angry?

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

Photo by Andre Hunter on Unsplash

A few years ago, I found that I was angry… a lot. And, my family usually bore the brunt of it. I was short-tempered and irritable at home, snapping at my wife and raising my voice too often with my kids. And I didn’t like it. I didn’t want to be the kind of dad my kids were afraid to talk to. Fear of consequences isn’t the same as being scared of Dad. I wanted Corinne to feel safe with me, not walking on eggshells all the time. And I didn’t like the way the anger made me feel physically.

So, I turned off the news and deleted every social media app on my phone. I confessed my anger to a group of men I met with for prayer and Bible reading, and asked them to pray for me. And it’s helped a lot! But, like everyone, I still have my days of struggle.

Lately, I’ve been reading through the Minor Prophets in my quiet time. Jonah, one of the prophets, also had some anger issues. He was mad when God told him to go and preach to Nineveh, a city filled with people Jonah hated. So, he ran in the opposite direction. A massive storm and a big fish later, he was ready to follow God’s command.

So, he went to Nineveh, and they responded to his message with mass repentance. In modern-day Christianese, we’d say Nineveh had a revival. And Jonah was angry about that! In fact, he said to God, “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” (Jonah 4:2-3). Jonah was angry that God was merciful!

And God’s response hit me. “Have you any right to be angry?”

How often am I angry without any right to be? If I’m honest, it’s most of the time. I know it’s possible to “be angry and sin not” (Eph 4:26). But most of the time, my anger has some sin mixed in with it. When I’m dealing with anger, it’s good to remember that I’m a sinner, too. I also need God’s grace and mercy. I don’t get it right all the time, either.

Anger is not inherently wrong. We may even be angry for a just reason. But while God’s anger is righteous, ours is rarely completely pure. Sometimes it’s helpful to stop and ask, “Have I any right to be angry?” That at least helps us identify the plank in our own eye before we lash out in anger at the speck in our brother’s.