The Lord asked, “Is it right for you to be angry?”
This is a great question to ask ourselves every single time we feel the fire of anger rising within us. I venture to say that most often our anger is selfish in nature just as Jonah’s was. My anger is almost always triggered by something that negatively impacts me or my comfort. We might be tempted to justify our anger by calling it ‘godly anger’. Seriously? How often are we truly angered by the injustice that others are suffering? How often does our anger arise from what we see others enduring? I’m sure we can find times in our lives when this was the case; however, in my life, it has definitely been the exception. Sadly, anger is very often triggered by inconvenience.
My anger is almost always like Jonah’s – selfish. This selfish anger that arises from within never produces the righteousness of God. It cannot. As we see others from God’s perspective while walking alongside them in His righteousness then maybe, just maybe, we might experience the anger that grows out of God’s heart. In the meantime, we must continue to hear God ask us, ‘Is it right for you to be angry?’ We may often find ourselves responding in the negative.
James 1.19, Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God.
Ventanas 