Angry with God (Houston, TX)

Angry with God

Question Is it wrong to be angry with God Answer Being angry at God is something that many people both believers and unbelievers have wrestled with throughout time. When something tragic happens in our lives we ask God the question Why because it is our natural response. What we are really asking Him though is not so much Why God as Why me God This response indicates two flaws in our thinking. First as believers we operate under the impression that life should be easy and that God should prevent tragedy from happening to us. When He does not we get angry with Him. Second when we do not understand the extent of God s sovereignty we lose confidence in His ability to control circumstances other people and the way they affect us. Then we get angry with God because He seems to have lost control of the universe and especially control of our lives. When we lose faith in God s sovereignty it is because our frail human flesh is grappling with our own frustration and our lack of control over events. When good things happen we all too often attribute it to our own achievements and success. When bad things happen however we are quick to blame God and we get angry with Him for not preventing it which indicates the first flaw in our thinking that we deserve to be immune to unpleasant circumstances. Tragedies bring home the awful truth that we are not in charge. All of us think at one time or another that we can control the outcomes of situations but in reality it is God who is in charge of all of His creation. Everything that happens is either caused by or allowed by God. Not a sparrow falls to the ground nor a hair from our head without God knowing about it (Matthew 10 29-31). We can complain get angry and blame God for what is happening. Yet if we will trust Him and yield our bitterness and pain to Him acknowledging the prideful sin of trying to force our own will over His He can and will grant us His peace and strength to get us through any difficult situation (1 Corinthians 10 13). Many believers in Jesus Christ can testify to that very fact. We can be angry with God for many reasons so we all have to accept at some point that there are things we cannot control or even understand with our finite minds. Our understanding of the sovereignty of God in all circumstances must be accompanied by our understanding of His other attributes love mercy kindness goodness righteousness justice and holiness. When we see our difficulties through the truth of God s Word which tells us that our loving and holy God works all things together for our good (Romans 8 28) and that He has a perfect plan and purpose for us which cannot be thwarted (Isaiah 14 24 46 9-10) we begin to see our problems in a different light. We also know from Scripture that this life will never be one of continual joy and happiness. Rather Job reminds us that man is born to trouble as surely as sparks fly upward (Job 5 7) and that life is short and full of trouble (Job 14 1). Just because we come to Christ for salvation from sin does not mean we are guaranteed a life free from problems. In fact Jesus said In this world you will have trouble but that He has overcome the world (John 16 33) enabling us to have peace within in spite of the storms that rage around us (John 14 27). One thing is certain inappropriate anger is sin (Galatians 5 20 Ephesians 4 26-27 31 Colossians 3 8). Ungodly anger is self-defeating gives the devil a foothold in our lives and can destroy our joy and peace if we hang on to it. Holding on to our anger will allow bitterness and resentment to spring up in our hearts. We must confess it to the Lord and then in His forgiveness we can release those feelings to Him. We must go before the Lord in prayer often in our grief anger and pain. The Bible tells us in 2 Samuel 12 15-23 that David went before the throne of grace on behalf of his sick baby fasting weeping and praying for him to survive. When the baby passed away David got up and worshiped the Lord and then told his servants that he knew where his baby was and that he would someday be with him in God s presence. David cried out to God during the baby s illness and afterward he bowed before Him in worship. That is a wonderful testimony. God knows our hearts and it is pointless to try to hide how we really feel so talking to Him about it is one of the best ways to handle our grief. If we do so humbly pouring out our hearts to Him He will work through us and in the process will make us more like Him. The bottom line is can we trust God with everything our very lives and the lives of our loved ones Of course we can Our God is compassionate full of grace and love and as disciples of Christ we can trust Him with all things. When tragedies happen to us we know God can use them to bring us closer to Him and to strengthen our faith bringing us to maturity and completeness (Psalm 34 18 James 1 2-4). Then we can be a comforting testimony to others (2 Corinthians 1 3-5). That is easier said than done however. It requires a daily surrendering of our own will to His a faithful study of His attributes as seen in God s Word much prayer and then applying what we learn to our own situation. By doing so our faith will progressively grow and mature making it easier to trust Him to get us through the next tragedy that most certainly will take place. So to answer the question directly yes it is wrong to be angry at God. Anger at God is a result of an inability or unwillingness to trust God even when we do not understand what He is doing. Anger at God is essentially telling God that He has done something wrong which He never does. Does God understand when we are angry frustrated or disappointed with Him Yes He knows our hearts and He knows how difficult and painful life in this world can be. Does that make it right to be angry with God Absolutely not. Instead of being angry with God we should pour out our hearts to God in prayer and then trust that He is in control and that His plan is perfect.