Are you mad at God?

Pastor Doug Issac,

I have met both agnostics who question the existence of God, and atheists who do not believe in God, but what amazes me is the number of people I meet who are bitter against God. Some people are angry about terrible things that have happened in their lives or families. Others have had someone close to them die and they react by blaming God. “Why did you take my brother?” or “How could you have taken my mother when I was only five years old?” Sometimes people will think they will “get even” with God if they stop putting their faith in Him. As Psalm 1:1 says, they sit in the seat of the scornful and are antagonistic toward Him. Whatever their reasons, they are mad at God. Many actually hate Him. Bitterness toward God can be hard to face and is often overlooked, excused or deeply hidden. It can lie far below the surface, beneath the other “junk in your trunk”. You can unload poisonous unforgiveness, fatal connections to your offenders, unfocused anger, bad habits such as complaining and causing strife and lots of other junk. But if you keep bitterness toward God deep in the bottom of your trunk, you will be sidelined in your spiritual race. That burden will keep you from going anywhere. “Admit it” is exactly the place to start if you are mad at God. So many people who are mad at God will not admit that they believe God has done them wrong. But honestly admitting that they think God has done them wrong is the first step in freeing themselves from this destructive burden. Job was mad at God, and declared it in Job 27:2. “As God lives, who has taken away my justice, and the almighty, who had made my soul bitter.” No two ways about it, Job was mad at God. Very often, blaming our troubles and sorrows on God stems from a misunderstanding, and that was certainly the case with Job. Let’s look at a few statements Job made and uncover the misunderstanding at the root of his bitterness. “Therefore I say, He destroys the blameless and the wicked. If the scourge slays suddenly He laughs at the plight of the innocent. “The earth is given into the hand of the wicked. He covers the face of its judges. If it is not He, who else could do it?” In Job’s mind at this point, God is the author of every bad thing on earth. Maybe this is your mindset also? Job was sure God destroyed both the blameless and the wicked. If a scourge came, Job felt God laughed at the suffering. If judges handed down poor decisions, Job said God had covered their faces. But we know from scripture that God does not destroy the upright with the wicked. He is not amused at the suffering caused by plagues such as AIDS. Nor is he pleased with the decision of wicked judges. So if God is not at the bottom of terrible things, then what is the answer to the question everyone who is bitter toward God asks? Who else could it be? In Job Chapters 1, 2, 3 we find out that it was not God who was making his life miserable. We will find out in our next article who it was and how to deal with the devil.