ARE YOU ANGRY WITH GOD?

 

ARE YOU ANGRY WITH GOD?

 

Many people, and I’ve heard it many times, will tell you, “I prayed and prayed on a certain matter, but God didn’t answer my prayer. Doesn’t He care about what’s going on down here with me?” What makes you think He didn’t answer? You expected Him to answer by giving you what you wanted, didn’t you? Did you ever think that the reason you didn’t “get what you prayed for”, is that the answer was simply “no”, or maybe the answer was, “Wait a little while, because now is not the right time for that.” We have had to wait many times. The waiting brought a much greater blessing than had we received what we asked for immediately. I remember when I was working, they had drawings of all kinds; I would often wonder “why didn’t I win?” I even (and I’m ashamed to admit it), thought maybe I had done something that would cause the Father not to want to bless me in that way. During this time, the drawings were for maybe “$20″; small amounts; but would have gotten us a fairly nice dinner. Hey, I’m not picky when it comes to things like that. Well, unbeknownst to me, God had a much greater blessing. I patiently waited, although wondering from time to time, and when my time came, I was awarded with twelve times what had been received by others. (Remember the twelve baskets left over at the feeding of the multitude?) Needless to say, I was totally WOWED by the Father. (I would encourage you to read Daniel chapter 10.)

Charles and I have recently begun singing a song written by Vickie Arnold, called “EVEN THEN”. The thought behind the song is that no matter what comes our way, whether we understand or not, we have faith that everything is under God’s control. Even when we plan our own steps, and think we have the answers to our situations. God may not do things OUR way, but use His own plans; still we love Him and trust Him.

Many times, in the past few years especially, we have questioned happenings; even end results, only to find things worked out far better than we could have possibly imagined. We often wonder about God’s time-table. We get in a hurry for things that need to develop properly over a period of time. We’ve learned that things stick with you longer, i.e. lessons, when they take longer to come. We appreciate them far more than had they come in the blink of an eye. To give an example: we were financially distressed after I retired from work. We had no bookings to speak of and the “going outs” exceeded nearly twice the amount of the “coming ins”. We had the huge motor home that was being unused, yet still had to have upkeep and monthly payments. What were we to do? SURE we trusted God, yet patience is not often a quality many mortals have. We put the motor home up for sale at what we considered a fair market price; had a few lookers, but no takers. Time was running out for our finances. Then, just as with many things in the Bible, when it seemed all was hopeless and we discussed my going back to work, (although we KNEW God was the One Who told me to STOP working) just as the clock was preparing to strike “midnight”, we had a buyer. Not for the amount we desired, but for the exact amount we needed. We THOUGHT He was going to be four days late. We felt we trusted, but did we really? Did thoughts of anger toward God pop into our minds? We say “no”, yet didn’t we wonder “why” it took so long; and isn’t that in essence a “touch” of anger? Just as Lazarus’ sister told Jesus, “IF YOU HAD BEEN HERE OUR BROTHER WOULD NOT HAVE DIED”, I feel she was definitely angered. The entire family of Lazarus was close to Jesus, did they not trust that even though He was “late”, the end result would be tremendous, nay miraculous?!? Such could be said for many of us.

Now, for your part in this (you knew it was coming), you always have to think about you and your reactions when we talk with you in this fashion. Have you EVER felt anger toward God? Don’t get upset here, I’m not asking you to confess some great sin. It’s OK to get angry with God; you are only human; you don’t understand many things; you can’t see the whole picture. It is very ok to get upset with God. You get/got upset with your earthly father didn’t you? When you didn’t understand his reason for telling you no. (You probably even have the same situation with your own children, in reverse. You know that what they want and when they want it, may cause problems for them) The “sin” in getting angry with God, is in your reaction to the anger. When you DID, and I know you have, (I think everyone does at one time or another, to one degree or another); did you let it “simmer” or “grow”? Did you talk to Him about it? Is there a touch of it still there? I can help you fix it if you are willing to listen to me. You feel He has in some way “let you down”, disappointed you, and you feel hurt and yes a bit angry about it; don’t let it go on any longer. Talk to Him, He’s waiting for you. If you have a hard time praying about it, follow this simple step; get yourself a writing tablet, and a pencil or pen. Write God a letter; but don’t start it with “Dear God”; instead begin it with, “Dear FATHER”. Tell Him that you are angry; tell Him WHY you’re angry; place it in your Bible; then wait for Him to show you why He did or didn’t do what you wanted. He will, you know. Our biggest problem in any given situation, is the UNwillingness to “wait upon the Lord”.

 

Isaiah 40:31 But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run and not be weary and they shall walk and not faint.

 

I’m going to put a few words from the song in here and they will give you a bit of peace. The second verse says, “Even when I trusted YOU to meet MY needs the way that I had planned. Yet You chose to meet it in a way that I will never understand. Though it broke my heart in two, and I don’t know how I’ll get through, Though the pain is great, Lord, I’ll NEVER stop loving You.” (Written by Vickie Arnold) Can you love Him regardless? Can you trust Him regardless?

 

Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.

Isaiah 55:9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.

Think on these things. Maxine

All scripture is KJV