Jonah’s apprehensions about God’s dealings with Nineveh became a reality. God forgave this cruel people who had been such a scourge to Israel. This put Jonah at odds with God. God was extending grace to the Assyrians, but Jonah could not agree with God in this and so his attitude was in conflict with God. This is how it is whenever we choose to sustain bitter anger against a person. No matter what people do to us we are called to be gracious towards them. God wants to forgive them and show them grace. And we are heralds of God’s message of forgiveness and grace. If we harbour bitterness toward a person, then we are holding that message in contempt and are at odds with the God who is sending the message through us. The question that God would ask us in our conflict situations is the same as that question he asked Jonah: “Do you have a right to be angry?” In a way, Jonah had a right to be angry given the atrocities that the Assyrians had perpetrated. But God had chosen to forgive the people of Nineveh and if God is for someone no one has a right to stand against them (Romans 8:31). Is God willing to forgive that person that you are angry with? Yes, indeed he is. Do you therefore have a right to sustain anger against them? No, you don’t. God is calling you to give up that right even as Jesus gave up his rights as an innocent man when he was paying for your sins on the cross.
Ask God to help you see these things from his perspective.
Read Jonah 4
