Sermon Tone Analysis

/Have you ever noticed how the same people that make you so glad can sometimes make you so mad? /

/            The same bride and groom who can’t stop smiling and laughing every minute of the honeymoon can later be heard 3 houses down yelling, “You make me so mad!” /

/            The same baby you once doted over hits the terrible twos or the terrible teens and suddenly the doctor has to increase the dosage of your blood pressure medicine.

/

/            One of the ways you identify your best friends is that you can both get mad at each other and still stay friends.

/

/            Some of the people who make you glad can really make you mad.

Does this apply to God? /

/            There’s an old chorus we used to sing in the church I got saved in: /

/            /He has made me glad, He has made me glad, I will rejoice for He has made me glad.

(2X).

/            It was one of my favorites, because just singing it sometimes made a little more glad.

But there were times when it was hard to sing this song, because quite honestly, He didn’t make me glad: He made me mad.

/

/            When I would pray and He seemed to ignore me; when I thought I needed something, and He didn’t give it to me; when my life deteriorated into one big mess, and He didn’t straighten it all out---then I confess to you, I’d get disappointed, frustrated, and even angry at the Lord.

/

/            I later discovered I was in good company, because the Bible tells us quite a few heroes of the faith got mad with God.

/

/            Moses was glad to lead Israel out of Egypt, but then Moses got mad at God. /

*Ex 5:22-23* /So Moses returned to the Lord and said, “Lord, why have You brought trouble on this people?

Why is it You have sent me? 23For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in Your name, he has done evil to this people; neither have You delivered Your people at all.”/

/            //Job was a man who, according to the first verse of the book that bears his name,/ /was blameless and upright, and one who feared God and shunned evil.

And yet during his time of testing said in /

*Job 7:19-20 */19//How long?

Will You not look away from me, And let me alone till I swallow my saliva?

20Have I sinned?

What have I done to You, O watcher of men?

Why have You set me as Your target, So that I am a burden to myself?/

/            //Even the apostle Peter—the Rock--- sometimes got frustrated with his Lord.

/

*Mt 16:22* /Then Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, “Far be it from You, Lord; this shall not happen to You!”/

/            //Sometimes the God Who makes you glad can make you mad.

We know we ought not to feel that way, but sometimes it’s how we feel.

Why do we get mad at God? How does God react when we get mad at Him? How do you get over being mad with God? How do you get from being mad with God to being glad in Him again?

/

/            One of the classic cases in the Bible of a person being mad at God is found in *Jonah 4*.

It’s a strange ending to a strange tale about a prodigal prophet that gets turned around, and yet still ends up getting mad at God.

I want us to read this chapter tonight, and talk about why we get mad at God, and how we can get glad in Him again.

Read *vs.

1-4* with me.

/

*PRAYER*

*            */Why do we get mad at God?

For some of the same reasons Jonah got mad with God.

We get mad /

*I.              **WHEN GOD DOESN’T DO THINGS MY WAY.

(v.

1-4)*

            Most of us like to get our way, don’t we?            

I’m extraordinarily patient provided I get my own way in the end.—Margaret

Thatcher[i]

            But what happens when we /don’t /get our way?

We do the same thing Jonah did—we get angry.

Why is Jonah so mad? /God doesn’t do things His way.

/

/            /In the opening scene Jonah is probably still in Nineveh, (cf.

*v.

5*) looking around in horror as these people repent and believe God.

Kind of a strange reaction for a preacher, don’t you think?

Jonah is fuming to himself /this isn’t supposed to happen!/ /These people are supposed to die!

If they keep this up, I know just what God will do!

/After all, Jonah /is /a prophet; he knows God is: /gracious and merciful…, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, One who relents from doing harm./

(*v.

2*).

As it dawns on him that God will not destroy these wicked people, he finally explodes: /I knew it!

I just knew it!

God, I knew this would happen!

That’s the reason I ran off in the first place- I knew you would do this to me!

I am so mad---I’m so mad I could just die! /

/            / Some say he’s irate because God shows mercy to Israel’s enemies, the Assyrians.

Others say Jonah is angry because his reputation is threatened because what he predicted didn’t come to pass.

But if you could sum up the main reason Jonah is angry you could put it this way: /God didn’t do it my way.

/

/            /How does God respond to Jonah’s temper tantrum?

Not with lightening bolts or plagues, but with a simple question in *vs.

4*: /Is it right for you to be angry at Me?/

            The answer is /no.

/Jonah should have been glad.

He should have been glad God shows mercy to these repentant sinners.

He should have been glad God works out His will in this world.

He should be glad God is doing things God’s way /because God’s way is the best way./

/            Isn’t that one of the most irritating things about God?

He doesn’t do things our way.

/

/            You make your plans and preparations and God short circuits the whole process.

Your plans fall apart, you feel like a fool, and you get frustrated, or even angry at God.

You pray for one thing, and He answers by sending you something else.

How could He do this to me?

When God doesn’t do things your way, it’s easy to get mad.

/

/            But you shouldn’t be mad—you should be glad.

You should be glad because God’s plans are always better than our plans.

They are better because they bring Him glory, because they bring us a greater good.

You should be glad instead of mad because *there is no better plan than God’s plan.

*/

            *Isaiah 55:8-9 */8//“For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord.

9“For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts.

/

*Ro 8:28* /And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose./

/            //Should you ask God for what you want?

Should you plan and prepare?

Certainly.

But when God has other plans, don’t get mad—be glad.

/

/            /Hope for the best; prepare for the worst; be thankful for what God chooses to send.

/This really is some good advice.

Trusting God means even when He doesn’t do things like you’d like, you don’t get mad, but you get glad that He always does what’s best.

/

            /Jonah shows us another reason people get mad at God: /

*II.

WHEN GOD TEACHES ME LESSONS I DON’T WANT TO LEARN.

(v.

5-9)*

            Teachers hear it all the time in the classroom: why do we have to learn this stuff?

Why do have to learn how to speak proper English~/how to do Algebra~/how to dissect a frog~/how to read Greek(that’s me in college.)

Getting a good education sometimes means learning lessons you would never choose to learn.

/            /In the classroom of life, some of God’s lessons are no fun.

In fact, if He asked me (which He hasn’t) if I wanted to learn some of them I’d say /Thanks, but no thanks, Lord.

/

/            /But God sometimes makes us mad by insisting we learn some hard lessons.