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When You're Angry at God — 9/23/2026 10:00 AM
Today's speaker is Garrett Kell, Lead Pastor of Del Ray Baptist Church in Alexandria, VA. Pastor Kell looks at the life of the prophet Jonah; he draws some lessons for us when we are tempted to be angry at God for the circumstances in which we find ourselves. His text is Jonah 4.
Notes
This morning in chapel, Garrett Kell, Lead Pastor of Del Ray Baptist Church, preached through the book of Jonah and discussed anger at God.
An Angry Prayer
When God showed mercy to the repentant Ninevites, Jonah prayed in anger. The Lord agreed with him that their actions were exceedingly wicked, but He is also exceedingly merciful. That was Jonah’s problem with God — he didn’t like how God acted when it came to forgiveness.
God’s forgiveness never comes without justice. He does not forgive just because He’s nice. All evil will be paid for in full, either in an eternal hell or on the cross, where Christ took the penalty for sinners who would repent and believe.
Sometimes you won’t like how God is running the universe. There are many wonderful things in life, but there are also many sorrows. We should never be angry at God, but we should also tell Him when we are. God understands grief, and He wants us to bring it to Him.
But lamenting before God is not the same as lashing out before God. Jonah was pridefully exploding in fury in the face of God. This was wrong, but God showed Jonah the same mercy and steadfast love that Jonah was so angry about.
An Appointed Providence
Nothing happens by accident in God’s universe. He is sovereign over everything, which He demonstrated by appointing the plant to grow over Jonah to save him from discomfort. When God’s sovereign grace was extended to Jonah, Jonah was happy about it, but he didn’t want it to be extended to those he saw as less worthy. God brought discipline to Jonah to expose his heart.
A grumbling heart protests against God’s providence in your life. Our circumstances force us to wrestle with what we actually think about God. If you’re His child, He is committed to forming Christ in you. This means He uses circumstances to purify your faith as you trust in His understanding.
Jonah needed to die to his desire for control. He needed to surrender to a God who is good and whose ways are above our ways.
By showing Jonah that he liked when God saved him and showed him mercy, God asked Jonah to look deeply at His good character. God sees suffering and draws near. He shows His love not always by keeping you from suffering but by enduring it Himself and walking with you through it. The way to overcome anger at God is to embrace the goodness of God. Your lifeline is to stare at Christ and to see that when the world doesn’t make sense, He who gave us His only Son will also give us all things. When His wisdom is unveiled, we will praise Him for it.
Do not be angry. Look to the mercy of God and allow your heart to be melted by undeserved grace.