We study God through His Word each Thursday on the blog. Our goal is to present the truth of God in a way you can digest and apply. This week we will look at what makes God angry (and what doesn’t). Show I got sent to the principal’s office three times in my entire school career. I never got in much trouble (talking in class was my offense), but the memory of waiting to see the principal is forever burned into my memory . . . Sweaty palms. I was terrified the principal would be mad at me and, as a result, so would my parents. Their collective anger and disappointment were worse than any punishment I received. When it comes to God, I’ve spent many years feeling like I was sitting outside the principal’s office. I’ve been a Christian for almost two decades. Looking back, I can see that I’ve spent most of those years feeling like I did in those moments outside the principal’s office. I’ve been convinced that God was mad at me and terrified of the punishment He would hand down. I’ve had near-constant anxiety that He is somehow disappointed in me. When bad things come into my life, I’ve read them as proof that God is angry. But God has been working in my life lately, showing me areas where my theology (that’s a big word for my beliefs about who God is) are askew. I’ve been challenged to go to the Word for the answer to this big question: Is God mad at me? Here’s what I’ve found. Yes, God gets mad.There’s no denying God’s anger in Scripture. We can hear stories like the incineration of Sodom and Gomorrah due to sin (Gen. 19) or His sentencing of the Israelites to wander for forty years because of their grumbling (Num. 14) and begin to get a picture of God like a Father who flies off the handle. When that happens, we’re missing part of the story. Yes, God’s anger is fierce. But the Bible also tells us that His anger is:
And what is it that makes God angry, anyway?
It is because of God’s righteous anger that the Bible commands us to fear Him (Prov. 1:7). But fearing His righteous judgment is not the same as worrying He might zap you. It’s the difference between revering someone who rightfully sees your sin and wants to correct it and seeing God like a cop in your rearview mirror. Mad for me.As we look at His anger in the Word, we see that its purpose is always correction—to move His people away from sin and toward Him. His reaction to sin is so strong because of these truths: God takes our sin seriously and yes, it angers Him, but He is mad for us not at us.
We have a way of convincing ourselves that sin won’t hurt us, but God knows better. He knows our sin separates us from Him. He knows that ultimately our sin leads to death. Yes, He takes our sin seriously and yes, it angers Him, but He is mad for us not at us. He is mad for the ways sin will wreak havoc on our lives. God is not moody. He doesn’t fly off the handle. He isn’t disappointed in me because I slept through my quiet time. He isn’t mad at me because I’m not perfect. He is angered by my sin because of His deep love. Is God mad at you?I wonder if when you think of God, you feel like a girl sitting outside the principal’s office? Do you live in a perpetual state of fear that He is mad at you, that you have somehow disappointed Him again? If so, can I invite you to ask the Lord to show you the truth about His anger? Then join me in studying the anger of God in His Word. To get you started, here’s a great resource from BibleGateway.com that I borrowed from for this post. How do you know if God is angry with you?Signs of God's Anger. God is Silent. ... . You Do Not Feel Guilty About Your Sin Anymore. ... . You Keep Stumbling Upon Bible Verses Calling for Repentance. ... . You are Humiliated. ... . You Face the Consequences of Your Sin. ... . There is Calm Before the Storm. ... . Your Heart is Full of Resentment. ... . Your Prayers Are Not Answered.. What do you do when God is mad at you?What can you do when you are mad at God?. Tell him how you feel. ... . Place the blame for evil on Satan, not on God. ... . Pray for courage, strength and peace to make it through the day. ... . Trust that God will use a hardship for something beyond what you can see. ... . Get involved in other people's lives.. Is God angry with sinners?God's wrath is on sinners.
In John 3:36, he does not say, “The wrath of God will come on [the disobedient].” He says, “Whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.” It is already there.
What causes anger at God?In most cases, people become angry at God when they perceive that God is responsible for something harmful or unfair. These include the sorts of events that insurance companies would call “acts of God”—devastating events that can't be easily blamed on another person, such as natural disasters.
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