it’s a new and sort of freeing idea to me, this one i’ve been grappling with for a little while… the concept that it is okay to be angry with God. i mean, He did give us emotions right? and this anger, it’s not because i don’t love Him. in 1 Corinthians 13 (tha love chapter) it gives me a list of qualities present (or supposed to be present) in love. vs 4-8 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking,it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always perserveres. Love never fails… hold up though. in verse 5 it says love is not easily angered. in all my times of hearing this passage i have missed a key point. anger is allowed. it’s not preferred i’m sure, but imagine that!- the bible lets me be human! i think so many times i’ve told myself that i am not allowed as a christian to be angry at other people. unless of course, i’m turning over tables in a temple in my righteous anger. because i definitely think there are 2 different types of anger: a righteous or selfless anger that comes from one being in tune with God. (i.e. i get angry at what He gets angry at) and then there’s fleshly or selfish anger. (i got ignored or left out so now i’m pissed off.) but mostly i guess the kind i’m talking about is best represented in the following picture: a screaming 2 year old, flailing her arms and kicking her daddy in his chest as he tries his hardest to hold on tight. and why? read on…anyway, something i’ve been learning as of late is about God’s soveriegnty, and i think that’s helped me come to this frame of mind about the allowance of anger. what is soveriegnty? dictionary.com defines it in it’s adjective form as this:
*having supreme rank, power, or authority.
*supreme; preeminent; indisputable: a sovereign right.
*greatest in degree; utmost or extreme.
*being above all others in character, importance, excellence
that pretty much sounds like God, no? well, i remember something that was said in a discussion recently about God (we seem to have a lot of those around here wink wink) where it was stated that the thing that makes Him the most sovereign is that He has given some of His sovereignty to us in the form of freewill. sovereignty over a robot is not really much to brag about. sure you have complete control and are above it, but only because there really is no alternative… but hear this. in the minute that God told adam he was free to eat of all the trees save the tree of knowledge of good and evil, God had given adam freewill. to choose God and His perfect decrees or to choose imperfection. sin. and being a descendant of adam, i also have freewill. (consequently i’m also born into sin…) anyway, long story short, devotion is only real and worthwhile when the opportunity for deviation is present. it’s out of this gift of soveriegnty from God that i even have a choice, have the capability to be angry. i am allowed to be human!! yeah, so back to that bratty little 2 year old from earlier… why so angry? because she doesn’t understand. and more than that, she would exercise her freewill in the form of anger at her lack of understanding rather than in the form of trust in her father. and for the icing on the cake, she doesn’t understand because she won’t stop screaming and writhing long enough to listen to her father’s answer to her question. dear God. get me out of my own way.
oh life. why does it hurt so much to grow
Ouch is right Mel
Thanks for posting…I agree totally. Too often does that bratty 2-year-old come out of me, but thank goodness the other side of the picture you described is true as well! I feel so much better knowing that God is holding on tight. Hey, I love ya!
Arielle
I amso proud of you and what you are learning and how you are growingl It teaches me and challenges where i am in my crawl I seem to have regressed.