Is It Right To Be Angry?

This week we’re looking at anger. But let’s start off by saying that Raelene and Caro did a remarkable job sharing their stories in the message yesterday - if you get a chance, watch/listen to them!

Anger is tricky, isn’t it? For some of us we’ve been told that we were not supposed to be angry and only now are we coming to terms with the fact that we’ve been silenced for the sake of others’ comfort - and that we need to be angry. For some of us, anger is a destructive power in our lives and it has wrecked relationships or even our own health. And for most of us, there’s probably a little bit of both of those scenarios inside of us.

So we want to start this week with a simple question, which is what God asks Jonah:

God said to Jonah, “Is it right for you to be angry?” - Jonah 4:8

It’s not the first time God asked that question to Jonah (see Jonah 4:4). Apparently it bears repeating! But let’s unpack it first.

The Hebrew word for ‘right’ is nuanced. That’s a fine translation but only in the sense that it captures the conversational/casual tone of the question. The word is mostly translated ‘pleasing’ or ‘fitting’ or even ‘beautiful.’ It’s pretty obvious that God is not inspecting Jonah’s emotional outburst to evaluate whether it’s morally upright or morally damnable. Instead, God is asking for Jonah to step towards clarity. It’s as if God is saying, “Hey, Jonah, I see anger pouring out from you - is that fitting to the situation or is it a cover for some other scarier emotion lying underneath it?”

As you head into your week, ask God for the grace to pay attention to your anger. Maybe even make a little ‘anger journal’ each day on a scrap of paper or in your phone. And then, perhaps at the end of each day get curious about your anger. Ask some questions of it - was it fitting? Was it covering up some other emotion? Could it have even have been beautiful?