[:en]SCRIPTURE: JONAH 4
“Now, Lord, take away my life, for it is better for me to die than to live. But the Lord replied, “Is it right for you to be angry?” (Jonah 4:3-4)
“But the Lord said, “You have been concerned about this plant, though you did not tend it or make it grow. It sprang up overnight and died overnight. 11 And should I not have concern for the great city of Nineveh, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left—and also many animals?” (Jonah 4:10-11)
JONAH’S ANGER AT THE LORD’S COMPASSION
Jonah was displeased and and became angry when the city of Nineveh was saved. He went out and saw down on a vine that God had provided to give shade for his head and ease his discomfort. The next day, God chewed the vine and it withered. When Jonah grew faint with the blazing sun and scorching wind, he told God: “It would be better for me to die than to live (v. 8)
Then the Lord said: “How come you are concerned with the vine when you did not tend it or make it grow, while you are not worried with a great city having more than a hundred and twenty thousand people there?
Sometimes, we are angry with God because things in life do not come out as what we wish it to be. It is essential that when we serve God, we should follow His will, not our will. Otherwise, we may say and do selfish things and consider comfort more important than ministry.[:]