Anger coming from fear

I saw yesterday (again) my raging anger. It can flash pretty hot. But my anger always stems from fear. I am a fearful person. Put into a stressful situation my first response is anger.

I am reading Jonah right now. I can relate that situation to the thoughts of chapter 2. You may wonder how. I am going to try to explain. I'd say Jonah starts out angry. He does not want to help the Ninevites, those people who were treating his people so badly, so evilly. He is angry at God, as we shall see later in the story. His anger shows itself in fear. He feared God so he tried to escape from God's presence. He knew he actually could not escape from God but he tried to anyway. (I think we do that.)

When in the boat fleeing he was picked as the man who was the cause of the storm. He did not deny it. So, in this situation at least, he did not fear men. But when asked to tell about himself (Jonah 1:9) to their many questions (they were panicked) he answered simply 1) I am a Hebrew. and 2) I fear the Lord God who made the sea and the dry land. So he knew that God was ruler everywhere, not just in Judah and Samaria.

Then Jonah was put in a large fish. Whale? Somehow he was surviving. It sounds like an organic cave. No light. Jonah seems to have repented of his anger. He remembers God's goodness. God has saved him from death in the sea. He couldn't really have expected that when he was thrown into the sea. Rather than all of them perishing only he was expected to die. The rest were saved by his brave decision. Yet Jonah did not die. God saved him too.

He says while he is sinking he remembered God. This prayer in chapter 2 seems confused as well you might imagine. God heard his prayer and saved him from out of the ocean. I hope I have enough sense to pray to God in the midst of stressful situations. After all these years of walking with God I do not think I do. That's a terrible thing to have to admit. Jonah prayed as he was drowning. I admire him for it. I think many people in life threatening situations do not pray to God and therefore are not saved when God would dearly like to save them if only they would ask. One might be tempted to be angry at God about this. Yet God is also merciful. It's not a rule. God can and does save without being asked. But God desires a relationship with us. Part of that is asking God. We acknowledge he is God and we are not. We need his help. We should ask with thanksgiving.

In his prayer Jonah vows to sacrifice to God with a thankful heart, not angry anymore. He has repented. That is when God has the fish put him out on dry land. Verse 2:4 concludes "Salvation is from the Lord." Yes it is. Don't you forget it.

I think at the beginning of his prayer Jonah is still angry but as he works through his feelings before God he repents. He realizes he wants to see God;s holy temple again. The temple is the physical representation of God in the world. Jonah loves God. God has saved him so that he can later do just that, worship at the temple. But first ...