JONAH 4:4

“But the LORD said, ‘Do you have a good reason to be angry?’”

We are all quick to assert our rights nowadays. We think just because we breathe, we have the right to demand our rights. “We have the right to choose.” “We have the right to protest!” We have the right to…fill in the blank. We can all find our own platforms to march on, can’t we?

Jonah thought he had the right to be angry, but God called him on it. The New Living Translation translates “Do you have a good reason” as “Is it right for you.” I actually like that better. God tells him that he has no right to be angry about this (we’ll see that a little later). God is the only one who really has a right.

APPLICATION

Proverbs 18:1 says, “He who separates himself seeks his own desire. He quarrels against all sound wisdom.” Doesn’t that sound just like Jonah? He thinks he is right. He thinks he has the right to be angry. How dare God save the Ninevites. How dare God do something other than what I think is right.

Our right is not necessarily God’s right. We, therefore, have no right to demand our rights. My brother-in-law used to say all our rights were nailed to the cross. We only have the right to die to ourselves. Then we are made right through His righteousness. We still cannot demand our rights because now all our rights belong to Him.

Confused? Don’t be. Just go to Jesus and confess your sins. Let Him show you what is right and what is not right. Let your rights rest in Jesus. He will look over your and protect you. When you make your rights line up with His righteousness, all the petty stuff falls away. Then you can walk in His righteousness and allow Him to make you right.

All my rights are on the cross with Your Son, Father. I bow before You now and ask You to make me right.