Anger or frustration at God is not the issue--I think he can handle it. What concerns me is when people let this anger or frustration BECOME an issue in their personal relationship with the Creator. Far too many people allow a little frustration become a barrier to going to church, spending time in the word, fellowshipping, or even leaving the house. These people get far too caught up in their anger and what that means for them. How selfish! We are called in the Bible to be ambassadors of Christ on Earth. We are supposed to love the poor, feed the starving, clothe the homeless, visit brothers in prison, laugh with the blessed--to be Christ on Earth and shine God's love into the darkness surrounding us. If instead we are spending our days moping about because God is not doing what we want him to, how are we going to accomplish those goals? I'm sorry, but I do not see how moping about furthers the kingdom of God.
From the limited life experience that I have had, remember that I'm 21, I have seen that the source of most anger towards God is when he does not do what we humans think he should. He does not save Uncle Ned from cancer. He does not stop a ravaging tornado that wreaks havoc on small communities in the Midwest. He did not prevent the Valdez oil spill that cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to clean up (work that is still on-going). He does not intercede in the wars raging on the planet's surface or stop the genocide in Darfur. He does not ensure that we get 100% on that critical final project for a capstone class. He did not prevent Mom from getting breast cancer. We get so angry at the ultimate Being for not doing what we want him to do that we lose focus on what he does on a daily basis. He makes sure the cosmos do not spin themselves into oblivion. He protects his children from demonic attack. He makes sure the sun continues to shine so that we may be fed and kept warm. He keeps every single promise that he ever made in the Bible--including that his ways are greater than man's understanding.
My dad, a rather interesting cranky old man, once told me that we see one corner of one puzzle piece of the infinite puzzle that is all of reality. God sees all of that reality. While this may seem like a simplistic explanation, it makes sense if you really think about it. We only see our day-to-day lives and those things that directly influence us while God sees the big picture. We get angry when God does not do what we want him to do--in doing so we forget that HE is Lord, not us. We forget that we are made to love and serve him, not the other way around. We forget that God, like so many parents, does things that his children do not understand for their best interest. How many times do parents say "You do not understand why I tell you not to run in the road now, but you will later" (or anything similar)? When we get frustrated because our car will not start even though the engine is working perfectly (after all, we can't be late to work again), we do not usually stop to think that maybe it didn't start right away because if it had, we would have run over that little boy who that we didn't see at first. Or maybe if it had started right away, we would have been in a car accident at that intersection the city has not fixed yet. We do not see the big picture--God does. He sees where each of our actions will lead and the inherent consequences. Sure, he does things that may frustrate us now, but it will make sense eventually (maybe not in this life). My dad had several visions when he was younger, but one in particular is relevant to this post. In his vision (keep in mind that he was driving at the time he was taken into this vision, and he drove several miles perfectly safely--I believe an angel had control of the wheel whilst my dad and God had a heart-to-heart), Dad was in space with God. They were looking down at the planet and everything that was going on. God allowed Dad a glimpse at the Master Plan (sorry to be so cliche, but this is the only way I know how to put it)--just a glimpse. Dad saw all of history and everything that had ever happened. He saw all that were happening in the present, and everything that would happen in the future. He saw how everything intertwined for the glory of God. Of course he remembered nothing specific about such happenings when he finally came to (believe me, if he remembered winning lottery numbers, we would not have been so poor when I was a child). The one thing he did remember, and still succombs to awe about every time he talks about it, was that the plan was PERFECT. It was perfectly designed by a perfect Creator for the maximum harvest of souls. Everything had to happen as it did and will. Maybe we get angry because four people died in a tornado, but how many people were brought closer to God, or even got saved, because of what they saw during said tornado? Everyone has a time to die. I think it is about time people realized that death is nothing to be afraid of, but that is a topic for a different thread.
I have had this discussion with several people: about whether or not it is okay to be angry with God. I have come to two major conclusions:
1. Even Jesus got angry.
- Many people have tried to make the argument that anger is a sin. I would argue that it is not. After all, the only perfect person/diety to ever walk the face of the planet got angry sometimes. He was angered by the Pharisees who were so caught up in rules that they lost focus on God. He got so angry when he found money changers doing business in the temple, that he made a whip and drove them out (John 2: 12-17)! No one can tell me anger is a sin--Jesus was angry. It is what anger leads to if mismanaged that is sinful. Mismanaged anger leads to jealously, greed, abuse, lust, murder, etc.
- I have been angry at God--I have lived through things no human should ever have to endure. I have watched people go through circumstances that are just plain inhuman. I have felt the pain of the suffering/dying in other countries. I was angry that my childhood was cut short by circumstances beyond my control. I was angry at the actions of people close to me who I thought were trustworthy (there is a reason the Bible says to trust no flesh). I harbored this anger for a very long time--almost a decade. It was eating ulcers in my spiritual stomach. Finally, I couldn't take it anymore: I went to a prayer meeting at the church I was attending at the time. There I cried while spilling my figurative guts out to the three people sitting there trying to figure out how to pray for me. A woman there said something I have never been able to forget: "You can be honest with God about how you feel--he is big enough to handle it." I realized that as angry as I was with God, I had tried to hide it from him. I had thought that a good little Christian couldn't be angry at the one she worships and had very successfully bottled my anger up until it reached the breaking point. You can read the entire Bible and not find a single verse saying "thou shalt not be angry at God." Rather, I keep seeing examples of people being angry, being honest about it, and God either showing them the ultimate picture or changing them so they could handle it (King David, Paul). The Bible is constantly saying to be honest, that liars are people to be avoided. It is no use trying to lie to God--he already knows the truth. He already knows when we are angry at him. It is up to us to be honest with him about it (and in doing so be honest with ourselves about that anger), do our screaming, and move past it and heal.
What was the point of this post? In my own long-winded, detail-oriented way I was trying to share that anger is okay, as long as it is managed properly, and that God wants his children to be honest with him (as any parent does). Once I realized that, my relationship with God got a lot better. Being honest with God about our frustration does not mean the situation will change, it just means that we will most likely be able to handle it better.
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