Anger With God For Loving Undeserving People?
by Dan Jones, M.D.
Jonah 4:1-3
But Jonah was greatly displeased and became angry. He prayed to the LORD, "O LORD, is this not what I said when I was still at home? That is why I was so quick to flee to Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity. Now, O LORD, take away my life, for it is better for me to die than to live."
Jonah was mad. And he was mad at God. God had called him to go to the wicked city of Nineveh to carry a warning of pending punishment from God. The people of Nineveh were evil people and the enemies of Jonah’s people. Jonah did not want to go to Nineveh, so he fled to Tarshish by boat. You will recall God created a storm and caused Jonah to be swallowed by a great fish. He remained in the belly of the fish for three days before he was “released” and went on his journey to Nineveh. While there, on hearing God’s warning through Jonah, the people repented. And God forgave them and did not destroy the city. And Jonah was angry because God had shown love and forgiveness to a people who, in Jonah’s opinion, did not deserve God’s love. So Jonah was angry.
Jonah’s attitude may seem foolish to the casual reader. But, if we look closely, we can see some of our own attitudes in those of Jonah. If we’re honest, it often bothers us more when good things happen to bad people than when bad things happen to good people.
In the health professions, we are particularly vulnerable to Jonah’s attitude of anger with God for loving undeserving people. We often see so many patients who have problems because of their own bad judgment. The problem may be drugs, alcohol, or just over-eating and under-exercising. We can become so hardened to this kind of self-destructive behavior that we lose our compassion.
But Jonah accurately describes the character of God when he calls him a “gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love…” This is indeed God’s character. If only we could emulate that character when encountering those who are difficult to love. As the people of Nineveh, some of our patients may not seem as though they “deserve” God’s love. But just as God taught Jonah, his character is to love and forgive.
Lord, give me your character of love and forgiveness.
Dan Jones, M.D., MACP, FAHA, a board-certified Internist, a former medical missionary to Korea, professor of medicine at the University of Mississippi School of Medicine, Dean of the School of Medicine, and Chancellor of the University of Mississippi until 2015. Dr. Dan Jones is a member of CMDA.
Dr. Jones welcomes any comments or questions about what he has written and can be reached at - djones@umc.edu
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