Are You Angry?

Why are you angry with God? Why are you bitter and resentful? Are you convinced that the situation you find yourself in is somehow His fault? You’re wrong. Scripture says that “God does not willingly bring affliction or grief to anyone,” (Lamentations 3:33). It’s hard to see past the blinding disdain that you feel for God if you believe or feel that He has wronged you in some way. But the truth is that He has not wronged you, and in fact has tried to help you out of the mess you find yourself in.

What if God were trying to rescue you this minute and you missed the opportunity to free yourself from that burden because you were too busy seething in remorse? Instead of being filled with hate, forgive. As crazy as it sounds forgive God until you are able to see that it should be you asking Him for forgiveness. Take daily steps to forgive God almighty until you can ask the Holy Spirit to intercede on your behalf to help you see your own sin. Anger is unforgiveness disguised as an emotion. An emotion that can leave us feeling spent and powerless. I want you to know that anger is not the end all of what your facing. Forgiveness is. Forgiveness is powerful and will get you back on track to freedom. Only in forgiveness are we truly ever free.

God granted us the power to choose between good and evil. This includes how we perceive Him and how we treat each other in His name. Whether your hatred is directed at God or a brother or sister, we sin. Anger towards God usually comes from a misconception that unanswered prayer should have been answered. I know because I’ve been there. There was a time that I believed God should have answered my prayers and when my prayers went unanswered I became bitter and resentful, full of hatred because I had lost something I cared deeply about. I spent years in a state of hate making myself physically ill until one day I was reminded that I had the power to forgive, and although forgiveness did not seem enticing at all - I began to say aloud, “God I forgive you.” Soon enough I believed that I had forgiven God, but that was only the beginning, because I was still in a state of sin. God never wronged me, I only perceived that He had. It was I who had to ask for forgiveness for not trusting God with His will and timing. To this day I still don’t know why my prayers went unanswered many years ago, but I now believe that God acted in my best interest. And most importantly that He is not bound to give me everything that I want when I want it. There is such a thing as God’s timing and sometimes we just have to wait and trust.

Forgiveness is about letting go of the resentment and bitterness that you feel. Easier said than done sometimes, isn’t it? There have been times when it “feels” easier to hate God or someone but in reality it’s not. Hating someone takes much more energy than forgiving. It’s true! Instead I have opted for the word of God, believed Him, and have made Him the King of my life to a point where forgiveness comes a lot easier. Letting go is so much easier than holding on. Take my word for it. That said, there are many obstacles for forgiveness but the thing you must remember is that the poison that you drink is basically killing you and not the person that you hate. How does that make sense to anybody? Let go and be free. Forgive and believe that you are whole once again. In spite of what was done to you, believe that there is redemption in Christ and that He alone is able to bring you to a point of release where all of the anger and bitterness leaves you to be truly free once again to love Him or to love another.

Being angry at God is a touchy subject, because it takes admitting that you are angry at a perfect Being which can be hard to do in the first place. But even God welcomes the conversation of anger: “I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions, for my own sake, and remembers your sins no more. Review the past for me, let us argue the matter together; state the case for your innocence, (Isaiah 43:25-26). As stated in this verse, argue your case before Him, and whatever you do, keep communicating with Him until you see that He would never hurt you or forsake you. God loves us and often acts in our best interest even if it’s painful at times.