Day 18

God never fights honest frustration.

‘But to Jonah this seemed very wrong, and he became angry.’ (Jonah 4:1)

We can suppress our emotions, we can express them, or we can confess them. Jonah handles his emotions in all three ways. He repressed his resistance to the fact God wanted him to go to Nineveh by running in the opposite direction for Tarshish. Later, he expressed his emotions in distress and with tears, and finally he confessed his anger in an honest expression of his heart.

In confessing his emotions, Jonah effectively said to God, ‘I’m angry that You are kind and merciful to the Ninevites who don’t deserve your favor – they are an alien people oppressing the nations around them.’ God didn’t defend Himself to Jonah, but extended him the same compassion He had for Nineveh. We don’t need to apologize to God for any anger we feel towards Him. It is helpful to get it out of our system in an honest expression of it, giving Him time to respond.

Then God caused a vine that had provided shade for Jonah to perish so that he became exposed to the scorching heat (Jonah 4:6-8). Jonah was angry again. He was concerned about the plant, but God was concerned about a city in need (Jonah 4:10-11). It took time, but because Jonah was honest about his feelings when talking with God, he was eventually able to harmonize his emotions with God’s. God softened Jonah’s heart and moulded his emotions so that Jonah could be more aware of the needs of those around him.

Take your raw feelings to God in the secret place and let His emotions mould yours.