Not too long ago a friend spoke of his anger with God. It is not an uncommon thing for folks to experience. More than one of us has shook our fist toward the heavens and given God an earful. It is not surprising that it happens. The truth is it happens in most of our relationships. We get angry with the people we love the most. Ask any marriage partner if anger ever rises between them. Or, for that matter, we might even admit to it happening in relationships that are far more casual.
The Word acknowledges the reality of anger, but tells us "Be angry, but do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger,..." (Ephesians 4:26) What we often forget when we consider our anger with God is that it is a two way street. Every relationship, even the one we have with our Creator, has within it the possibility for anger to be expressed by us and Him. While we do not think often of God being angry, any casual reading of the Old Testament reveals a God who not only knows first hand the emotion of anger, but expresses it. And, then there is also the record of Jesus cleansing the Temple. Call it what you will, but somewhere in the mix of what happened, call it anger.
What we can hope is that God takes His own Words seriously. If He is angry at us, we do not want Him to hold it in his heart any length of time. Like David we might pray, "O Lord, do not rebuke me in Your anger, or discipline me in Your wrath..." (Psalm 6:1) As surely as we might be angry at God, He might also be angry with us. As He is quick to forgive, so are we called to be quick to forgive others for causing us pain and Him for not doing exactly what we wanted Him to do.
The Word acknowledges the reality of anger, but tells us "Be angry, but do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger,..." (Ephesians 4:26) What we often forget when we consider our anger with God is that it is a two way street. Every relationship, even the one we have with our Creator, has within it the possibility for anger to be expressed by us and Him. While we do not think often of God being angry, any casual reading of the Old Testament reveals a God who not only knows first hand the emotion of anger, but expresses it. And, then there is also the record of Jesus cleansing the Temple. Call it what you will, but somewhere in the mix of what happened, call it anger.
What we can hope is that God takes His own Words seriously. If He is angry at us, we do not want Him to hold it in his heart any length of time. Like David we might pray, "O Lord, do not rebuke me in Your anger, or discipline me in Your wrath..." (Psalm 6:1) As surely as we might be angry at God, He might also be angry with us. As He is quick to forgive, so are we called to be quick to forgive others for causing us pain and Him for not doing exactly what we wanted Him to do.
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