Is There Ever Any Justification For Feeling Angry With God?
Have you ever felt angry at God for something that's happening or not happening in your life? Many people around the world have – and in fact many faithful people in the Bible have. You're not alone.
But is it OK for us to get angry at God? Is it ever justifiable and even welcome in the sight of God?
Anger at God
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In an article I wrote earlier I mentioned that anger is not sinful in itself. When anger is directed towards wrong or sinful things, then it becomes a powerful emotion that can cause us to stand up against what is wrong.
The Bible even teaches us to get angry, as long as the reason and the means of expression is not sinful. We are encouraged to get angry at the things that are wrong and sinful, in order for us to fight harder against what is displeasing to God.
That said, the truth can also be said of the opposite. When we get angry at what is right and even pleasing before God, we will find ourselves displeased with Him
At this point I want to ask you, dear reader. Why get angry at God anyway? What wrong has He done against you?
Is it OK to get angry at God?
Friends, I would like to answer this question from a point of view that recognizes who God is. Many who don't know God very well tend to get angry at Him. When you know Him, however, the situation changes.
All over the world, various injustices and unpleasant things happen. Before writing this article, I read a post in TheRebelution.com, where the writer admits he became angry at God for allowing his mom to die. When you get to the comments section, more people admit being angry at God for various reasons.
Dear reader, I confess to you that before I met Jesus Christ I also got angry at God for various reasons: pain, loss, frustration, and all sorts of unwanted things. Even after I became a Christian, there were times when I got angry at Him: when I felt like He left me alone, like He does not hear my prayers. If you've ever been upset at Him for those same reasons, I can relate to you.
When I got to know Him better, however, I realized one thing that made me think it's never OK to get angry at God, even though He understands why we get upset at times:
He is good.
He really is good
You see, friends, many of us get angry at Him because we don't understand why we are in pain. Think about bodybuilders or athletes. They don't get mad at the pain they feel as they lift weights or do strenuous physical exercises. They understand it's part of the package: "no pain, no gain" is what they say with a smile.
When we get to understand God's goodness, the pain we go through as we follow Him becomes part of the package as well. We go with Him for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health. We know all that He does for us is good, and all that He plans for us is for our good (see Romans 8:28; Jeremiah 29:11; James 1:13) .
So what makes us think it's OK for us to get mad and angry at such a loving and good God?
- He sent His Son to die for us while we kept making Him mad with our sins (see Romans 5:8). He pursued us when all that we've done was stoke His righteous anger with our sins. We offended Him big time, but He gave the ultimate provision for our forgiveness (John 3:16).
Tell me, then, if you can still get angry at Him.
- He promised to stay with us and never leave us (Hebrews 13:5). He promised to meet our needs as we trust in Him. And those who trust in Him, He will never ever put to shame (see Psalm 25:3; Romans 10:11)
There's no reason for us to get angry at such a good and loving God.
- We make mistakes, suffer the consequences, and we blame Him for it. Did He ever complain? He loved us and showered us with grace, yet we murmur that things aren't going our way. Did He ever complain? He gave up His only Son for our sakes, and yet we get angry at Him because of something we lost or didn't acquire. Did He ever complain?
Friend, God loves you. He's not the enemy – He's the Friend you'd want to be there for you as you go through all the suffering you go through.
