Angry at God, Part 2

When you continuously find yourself in the midst of one catastrophe after another, the easiest thing to do is give God the fist and let him know just how angry you are at him for letting you go through this mess. Sometimes, what we are facing is no fault of our own, but the result of bad decisions someone else made that happens to affect us. Other situations we are angry at God about are our own fault.

I know somebody who is mad at God because their marriage fell apart, though they did absolutely nothing to improve or revive the marriage before it was too far gone. Instead of taking responsibility and realizing that maybe they should have changed a few bad behaviors and attitudes or maybe even remained faithful and treated their spouse kindly, they found it far easier to shift the blame to God and quit going to church altogether or having anything to do with him, stating “it’s His fault.” Really? How so? Sometimes, we need to take a step back and see what we need to change that got us in that situation in the first place.  

For those times when we did absolutely nothing to bring something on ourselves, however, but we were just in the wrong place at the wrong time and someone else took advantage of the perfect opportunity to attack us or rob us, for example (which happens often in the big city), we would be very wise to turn TO God even more so, realizing He can make good come out of these horrible situations (even though it is natural to be angry at first). Life is full of a lot of twists and turns, “unlucky” breaks and cause and effect scenarios.

The absolute beauty that I have found in turning TO God instead of AWAY from Him when these things happen is that the after-effects and consequences turn out much better and the process of coping much easier with His help! We have a strong tower to run to during these times, and instead of running away from that strong tower, we need to run towards it during these times. Only then will we have a deep down peace and joy to carry us through and only then will we be teachable enough to grow through that difficult situation that happened to us.

Because sin abounds in our society and is getting worse as the days go by, we cannot expect life to keep getting easier. We need to accept this fact and like I always say, “Do the best I can do with what I got and trust God for the outcome.” The only way we can even hope to thrive in this difficult world is to realize that God is ON our side and notice the good He does through those difficult things. We need to accept the good with the bad, as Job did when he faced the catastrophic loss of everything, including all of his children, when he said to his wife after she told him to curse God and die, “Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?” (Job 2:10)

Although I have come a very long way and have learned how to consistently turn TO God during my worst times and depend on Him even more, (and not become angry with him when bad things happen to me), I still have room for growth. Oh, how I long to have Job’s attitude every time that says, “The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; may the name of the LORD be praised.” (Job 1:21)

We all need to set out purposefully to seek the good in this life that God blesses us with every single day instead of becoming angry with him, which does nothing to benefit or strengthen us in any way. Instead of becoming angry with God when we see suffering in this world, how about we do something to help those who are suffering? We are the hands and feet of Jesus and He put us on earth to care for others and comfort them in their suffering (which we are able to do because of the Holy Spirit) as well as lead them to Him – the way, the truth and the life. We can all do something to help ease the suffering of others in a variety of ways.

If there was no poverty, no victims, no sadness, no illness and no loss of any kind there would be no need for us to show empathy or sympathy to other humans or to help to the less fortunate by blessing them in some way materially or financially. Have you noticed you feel twice as blessed when you bless someone else? Imagine if there was never a need for us to help anyone. We would probably be a bunch of selfish, lazy people who would never know the blessing of helping someone less fortunate. We would not know how to comfort others because nobody would need comforting. To change our perspective and realize the flip side of the coin is crucial if we are going to thrive in the midst of a sin-filled world.

The next time you see something terrible, help out. The next time you experience something terrible, turn your perspective to the strong tower in your life and ask Him to help you see something good in this. The next time you see a sunset or a sunrise, know that there is still good in this world and that God is still good. Focus on a child’s smiling face or the beautiful aroma of a rose or the air after a rainfall, and remember that God is still good. If you are a dog-lover, let your doggie give you kisses until you can’t help but smile so big it hurts. Then realize where all of this good comes from.

Find something that makes you smile, laugh or calm down and experience it to its fullest. Then when something difficult comes along, remember these things and instead of being angry at God, be thankful. If you want to remember these things, write them down in a journal to read when you need reminding of God’s goodness because it is amazing how quickly we forget the good when we need to remember it the most. Works for me. J

My dog

My children

Bubble baths

The aroma in the air after the rain

Autumn leaves

The sand and waves (beach)

My church family

The rainbow after a storm

Crisp, white snow

The beautiful array of colors in a sunset

Clouds shaped like objects

The feeling of sand between my toes

Laughter of a friend, family member

My rose bush in full bloom

The hug from a friend