The Lord respected Abel and his offering, but He did not respect Cain and his offering. And Cain was very angry, and his countenance fell. So the Lord said to Cain, "Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen?
If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it."
Now Cain talked with Abel his brother; and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother and killed him.
Gen 4:4-8 (NKJV)
People controlled by anger sometimes get to the point where they are mad enough to kill someone, as in this instance, and other times, they are mad enough and sick of life enough that they want to kill themselves.
But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he became angry.
So he prayed to the Lord, and said, "Ah, Lord, was not this what I said when I was still in my country? Therefore I fled previously to Tarshish; for I know that You are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, One who relents from doing harm.
Therefore now, O Lord, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live!"
Then the Lord said, "Is it right for you to be angry?"
So Jonah went out of the city and sat on the east side of the city. There he made himself a shelter and sat under it in the shade, till he might see what would become of the city.
And the Lord God prepared a plant and made it come up over Jonah, that it might be shade for his head to deliver him from his misery. So Jonah was very grateful for the plant.
But as morning dawned the next day God prepared a worm, and it so damaged the plant that it withered.
And it happened, when the sun arose, that God prepared a vehement east wind; and the sun beat on Jonah's head, so that he grew faint. Then he wished death for himself, and said, "It is better for me to die than to live."
Then God said to Jonah, "Is it right for you to be angry about the plant?" And he said, "It is right for me to be angry, even to death!"
But the Lord said, "You have had pity on the plant for which you have not labored, nor made it grow, which came up in a night and perished in a night.
And should I not pity Nineveh, that great city, in which are more than one hundred and twenty thousand persons who cannot discern between their right hand and their left--and much livestock?"
Jonah 4:1-11 (NKJV)
Jonah, instead of being more concerned with the Ninevite sand their need of repentance, decided to sit down outside of the city and watch and see what would become of it. He was still hoping against hope that God was going to reign fire and brimstone down on his enemies. But God was merciful to Jonah, and gave him a plant to shade him so that he could sit in its shade and not pass out from the heat. But then, the next morning, God caused the plant to wither and dry up. Jonah started pouting, and God asked him, "Is it right for you to be angry over the plant?" Jonah said, "It is right for me to be angry, even unto death!" Now, Jonah still hadn't got the picture of what God was accomplishing. God was wanting Jonah to understand that He hadn't sent Jonah to the Ninevites to tell them God was angry with them and was planning on destroying them, as much as God was sending Jonah to tell them that He was a god of mercy, and would spare them if they would repent and turn from their sin. But Jonah's anger got in the way, and the Lord had to deal with Jonah, and tell him that 120,000 persons were much, much more important than a plant that grew up in the night, which Jonah hadn't worked for, and didn't have any eternal significance.
So, if we have a problem with anger, just like any other sin, we need to give it to the Lord. We need to confess our sin, and ask Him for His help to keep us from it. If we decided to start serving the Lord, He could use us in mighty ways, that we know nothing of. Jonah couldn't be used by the Lord until he confessed his sin; is there any sin that we have unconfessed?
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