Are You Angry With God?
"for the [resentful, deep-seated] anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God" [that standard of behavior which He requires from us] (James 1:20 AMP).
I once heard a very disciplined and God-fearing brother praying in an angry tone and this displeased the Lord and as a result, the Lord gave us a message commanding the brother to pray more often daily as this would keep him(the brother) closer to God. In another incident, the same brother angrily questioned a message to him from the Lord literally accusing the Lord of being biased.
In reply, the Lord's rebuke was gracious and stern, telling the brother that accusing Him was wickedness (James 1:13) and if we are angry with the Lord we would have no Defender, but us kicking against the goads (Acts 26:14; 1 Samuel 2:25). As it was, in humility, the brother repented bitterly over many weeks for his blasphemy and he was given grace. In other words, when the Lord speaks or acts, He does so with righteousness (Romans 9:20) and we know the Lord is blameless and His judgments always have an element of grace (Genesis 4:15-16).
Our Anger Is Blasphemous
Biblically, we also read how angry Jonah became with the Lord for being gracious and merciful and he learned the hard way that the only way to escape calamity was to repent and rely on God's deliverance (Jonah 1,2,3). Additionally, the Apostle Paul while on his mission opposing the Way of the Lord, instead of destroying him, God Almighty extended grace and drew Paul to Him after he repented and admitted that Christ is King (Acts 26:14-19).
Often, our anger blinds us from the things the Lord wants to teach us and indeed, we have alluded elsewhere here that as Christians we cannot expect a trouble-free life, but a life marred with tests, temptations and hardship and we know that is to mold us into obedient and humble fruit-bearing Christians (2 Timothy 3:12; 1 Peter 4:12-19). Being a minister of the holy Gospel, I have witnessed how some people in our ministry became angry with the Lord and abandoned the way of the Lord because the Lord would not do as they want. Now, these precious souls became bitter with God and we can testify that for their trouble and unrepentant hearts, they have fallen into deeper sin with the result being troubled by an evil spirit like that of Saul (1 Samuel 16:14-23).
In conclusion, the point we making here my dear brethren is that our unrepentant anger against God holds nothing good for us but it leads us to bitterness, restlessness, hardship, and judgment (Hebrews 10:26). There is thus no justification for any form of anger directed at the Lord for His Grace only meets us when we are at peace with God (Romans 5:1).
Blessed Grace
Brother Glenn
