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"How
long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long
will you hide your face from me? How long shall I
take counsel in my soul, having sorrow in my heart
all day long? How long will my enemy be exalted
over me?" (Psalm
13.1-2 )
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Angry With God
We
could aptly describe our day as "the angry age."
Rampant road-rage, escalating domestic
violence and raw aggression appear everywhere.
Many folk live at the tipping point, where the
slightest provocation sends them over the edge.
Marriages suffer for it, children become victims
of it, and the workplace is increasingly
uncomfortable because of it. Churches can even be
hotbeds for it.
You
know we have a problem when anger management
workshops are constant sell-outs.
Why
are we so angry? Psychologists offer a plethora of
reasons. But deep down, anger often emerges from a
toxic mix of fear and isolation.
Something poses a threat (or offense) to us,
and sets us off. I'm afraid of losing power, or
losing face, or losing something. When my "rights"
feel violated, and I fear I may be trampled more
seriously, anger flashes forth - even when I'm
just cut off on the
freeway.
Little
wonder then, that immersed as we are in this
culture of anger, we also find ourselves angry
with God on
occasion.
Why
doesn't He heal my cancer? Where was He when my
child died? When will we conceive a child?
Why doesn't He ease the pain? Why can't I get a
decent job? When will this financial struggle end?
And,
with a small step sideways, our questions can
become an angry accusation. "He doesn't
care!"
Ever
been angry with God? Many of us have at some point
or
other.
The
Psalmist felt exasperated with the Lord on
occasion (Psalm 13; above). The disciples
surely spoke with a touch of irritation when they
confronted Jesus in the floundering boat and said,
"Don't you care that we are perishing?" (Mark
4.28)
It's
an age-old issue. James advised, "Let
every one be quick to hear, slow to speak, and
slow to anger, for the anger of man does not
achieve the righteousness of God" (James 1.19-20).
He's absolutely right, of course. We have a say
about our anger. We need to nurture it less and
resist it more.
But
when it bursts forth with God, know this: He deals
graciously with it. Our anger does not incite Him.
Instead, He invites us to cast our anxieties and
fears on Him, for He cares for us (see 1 Peter
5.7). The solution to our anguish and anger is not
to suppress it but to share it and to share
the roots of it, with a Father who can
transform it.
He
will take our accusation and turn it into
transformation, if we remain open to Him.
Then we, like the Psalmist, might conclude: "But I
have trusted in Your covenant love; my heart shall
rejoice in Your salvation. I will sing to the
Lord, because He has dealt bountifully with me"
(Psalm 13.5-6).
In
HOPE
-
David | 
