So you’ve been harboring a beef with God. You’ve been angry at Him for something that has happened in your life. You’re frustrated that He didn’t prevent bad things from happening to you, family or friends. You are not alone. In fact, many people get angry with God from time to time.
It's normal to sometimes feel anger towards God. Just don't stay trapped in your anger. Although we may think it’s a normal thing to feel, it’s a real shame when we get angry with God, for he is our best friend. Yet since we are imperfect people, it happens.
People who get mad at God, often feel guilty about their anger and may even think their anger makes God angry with them. Their guilt sometimes drives them to feeling condemned. Feelings of anger towards God will make you feel distant from God.
How do get past feelings of frustration and anger towards God? Last week I mentioned three things you need to face and assimilate into your mind and heart: First, God is always and only good, no matter how strange and painful his ways with us may seem. Second, God does NOT do things or setup scenarios in our lives to make us angry with Him. His providence can be difficult to comprehend, but we should trust that He is always working for our best interests. Third, to know God, is to love and trust him. Maybe you don’t know him like you think you do. Go beyond your self-generated views of who you think God is, and find out who He really is.
One thing we should always appreciate about God is that we can be real with him. If you are angry with God, be honest about it instead of trying to hide it or act "religious." To get a sense of how you can be open, honest and frank with God, read the Psalms, about times when King David openly expressed anger and frustration with God.
David, lived a tumultuous life in serving God. As King of Judah and Israel he experienced many things that raised his levels of frustration and anger with God. Every time David expressed complaints toward God, – he laid his heart before Him, expressed his feelings, fears and inadequacies and ended up praising God. That’s a good resolution to our anger... praise and thankfulness.
Read Psalm 22: 1-6... David voices his complaints... yet in verses 22-31, he praises God. It was that kind of intimate and trusting relationship with God that bound them together in such a way that God called David “a man after his own heart.” (Acts 13:22; Psalm 116:1-2; Psalm 119) God never spoke of any other man in that endearing way, as he did David.
I'm not saying it's a good thing to get angry with God. However when we do, we are showing how little we understand his love, his goodness, and his purpose. We need to face our frustration and anger towards God and deal with it, as David did. The better you know God, and the longer you walk with him, the less likely you are to be angry with him. But, if you do get angry, be confident that he understands and helps you come to a place of repentance if you but open your heart and communicate your feeling to him.
In reality, being angry with God is sinful. He knows our struggles in life will from time to time frustrate us to a point we feel alone, abandoned, confused and ultimately become angry with Him. While we may think it normal, it is never right to be angry with God. But if you do sin in this way, don't compound it by hypocrisy. Tell him the truth and repent.
My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from the words of my groaning? O my God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer, by night, and am not silent. Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One; you are the praise of Israel. In you our fathers put their trust; they trusted and you delivered them. They cried to you and were saved; in you they trusted and were not disappointed. But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by men and despised by the people (Psalm 22:1-6).
I will declare your name to my brothers; in the congregation I will praise you. You who fear the LORD, praise him! All you descendants of Jacob, honor him! Revere him, all you descendants of Israel! For he has not despised or disdained the suffering of the afflicted one; he has not hidden his face from him but has listened to his cry for help. From you comes the theme of my praise in the great assembly; before those who fear you will I fulfill my vows. The poor will eat and be satisfied; they who seek the LORD will praise him—may your hearts live forever! All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the LORD, and all the families of the nations will bow down before him, for dominion belongs to the LORD and he rules over the nations. All the rich of the earth will feast and worship; all who go down to the dust will kneel before him—those who cannot keep themselves alive. Posterity will serve him; future generations will be told about the Lord. They will proclaim his righteousness to a people yet unborn—for he has done it. (Psalm 22:22-31).
I will praise the LORD all my life; I will sing praise to my God as long as I live. (Psalm 146:2; Psalm 63:4; Psalm 104:33)
No matter what happens in your life, never forget who you are, and who HE is.
Always and forever... be at peace with the God who loved you all the way to the Cross!
