Angry with God — Book of Jonah 4:9
Have you ever been angry with the Lord?
For some, that thought seems unthinkable. Yet when deep loss comes—especially when someone we love is taken—many sincere Christians have wrestled with anger toward God.
I remember hearing of a man whose young son drowned in a neighbour’s pool. In his grief, he drove around crying out against God, blaming Him for everything. Later, he repented—but in that moment of pain, his heart cried, *“Why, Lord?”*
And we might ask: was it truly God’s fault? Where were the safeguards? Where were the watchful eyes? Children can slip away in a moment—it would take eyes in the back of your head to see everything.
There is an old saying: *Be careful what you ask for.*
A father once longed for a son, having only daughters. He prayed earnestly, believing God would answer—and God did. A son was given. But instead of being a blessing, the boy became a grief to him. The Lord had answered—but not in the way the father imagined.
I remember the late Friday night prayer meetings that would stretch into the early hours of Saturday morning. There was an old brother named Jimmy. When he prayed, it felt as though he carried you into the very presence of God. The room would grow still, and the sense of the Lord’s nearness was unmistakable.
One day, I took a wrong turn and found myself in a cul-de-sac. There stood wee Jimmy beside his car, head bowed.
“George,” he said, “would you open the bonnet for me?”
It had been stuck. I helped him, and only later realised—he had been standing there praying, asking the Lord to send someone.
But months later, I heard that his young grandson had died. It broke him. They said he was never quite the same again.
And then we come to Jonah.
God gave Jonah a mission—to go to Nineveh, a city full of wickedness, and call them to repentance. But Jonah ran the other way. Why? Because he knew God was merciful. He knew that if they repented, God would forgive them—and Jonah did not think they deserved it (see Jonah 4:2).
Over 120,000 souls—and yet Jonah cared more for a plant that gave him shade for a single day than for all those people. How searching that is. Even today, some care more for possessions or even pets than for the souls of men and women.
Jonah thought those people did not deserve mercy.
But who among us does?
If God were to mark our sins, who could stand?
So when anger rises in our hearts—when life wounds us deeply—let us be careful.
Do not lay blame at God’s feet for what we do not understand.
And remember this:
Forgive others for their failures, just as we depend on God’s mercy for our own.
GOD IS A GOOD GOD
GOD KNOWS GOD LOVES GOD CARES
WRITTEN FOR GEORGES WEB MINISTRIES
24th March 2036