If you are struggling with taking your anger out on God, I have the perfect story for you today. It’s the story of a Christian woman who became very angry with God and how God used one of the often lesser-known books of the Bible to rescue her and put her back on solid ground. You’ll definitely want to stay tuned to the end. Grab your Bible, your journal, and pen, and close out any distractions. I have a feeling you’re going to want to take some notes. 😊
As Christian women, we are not exempt from heartbreak. Nor are we free from the temptation to get angry with God. One minute we acknowledge that God controls every part of our lives, and then boom, something happens, and the next minute we are very upset that He allowed something awful to come into our lives. Before you know it, we think that we know better than God, but that’s pride. Saying God made the wrong decision when He forced these terrible circumstances on us IS prideful.
So it’s no wonder that many women are having a hard time with all of this! You’re here today for a reason; breathe a sigh of relief, and if you need to admit to yourself, “I’m struggling with taking my anger out on God,” go ahead and get that out the way! It’s time to refresh our spirit today by walking a mile in a sister’s shoes today!
I’m struggling with taking my anger out on God
Let’s dive in.
My friend’s husband came home from work only to tell her that his position had been eliminated. The end of the road had come with his company at the time. The excitement of working hard to meet his career goals, leading and mentoring his subordinates, and participating in corporate team-building events and initiatives was over.
When she heard the news, her heart sank; she was both devastated for him losing his dreams of rising to the top tier in his company and also because she had no idea how they were going to pay their bills. She confided in me that at first, she felt like, ok, I can handle this, we’ll get through somehow because we always do. But, her husband felt less than optimistic. Men place a lot of their identity and self-worth into their work and even their job titles. But they had experienced blows and even been blindsided before, so she thought she would take this in stride and stay positive. After all, she was a Christian, and this is what she was supposed to do.
Before I finish the story, did you see what that last sentence says? “After all, she was a Christian, and this is what she was supposed to do.” My beautiful reader, I know you weren’t present in our conversation, but I can assure you that alarm bells were ringing in my ears that day. I wondered, could she be angry at God? Is she struggling with taking her anger out on God?
If you have ever taken an evil blow and felt like God was out to make your life miserable, you’re in the right place today. Maybe you lost a loved one, whether, through death or their stubbornness or rebellion, they’re not responding to you anymore like they used to. It could be a job loss, a devastating medical diagnosis, or a car accident. It doesn’t matter the exact details because tragedy looks and feels different in each of our lives. Truth be told, we’ve all probably said to ourselves, “I’m taking my anger out on God.”
And if these hardships seem to be on repeat, they have this sneaky way of making us feel that God doesn’t love us and like He certainly doesn’t have our best interests at heart. We hit a breaking point, and that’s it; we’re angry with God. We no longer want anything to do with Him. And just when we should press in harder towards God because we need even MORE love in that moment, we raise our hands and want to give up. We rebel, we give up, or we’re angry. But be careful ladies, this is a spiritual battle where the devil knows our weaknesses and will sneak in anywhere to try and gain a foothold.
My friend’s story wraps up with her in the days following, sinking deep into a dark pit of depression. The bills were already piling up, and all she could see was that their savings were dwindling. Her husband kept looking for a job, but since he wasn’t a young kid anymore, he felt that all the rejection letters were because of his age, which impacted how he felt about himself and crushed him even more. Of course, they had no way to prove that, but that’s the reality of how it felt. Perception is reality can hit home even when it’s not the best advice for us to follow.
It wasn’t long before my suspicion was confirmed, she was struggling with not only handing her struggles over to God, but also with being angry at God. She said she remembered the day she went into her closet, laid on the floor, and couldn’t stop crying. And we’re talking a deep cry where your bones hurt, your body shakes, and a migraine is looming.
In Hebrew, this is called Ze’akah. It’s that passionate, intensely deep outcry. It’s the cry that the Israelites were crying while slaves in Egypt when they were begging God to save them. It’s a cry I’ve cried over the Kyle situation. It’s a cry I’ve cried when I was homeless. And it’s a cry that God is always present all the MORE when you are feeling that deep feeling of despair!
At that moment, she had no hope of how they would get out of this situation without moving in with family. She didn’t want to go to church. She despised the encouraging texts from her friends and certainly did not want to listen to praise and worship music which were all things she loved before this happened to her. Her husband was hiding in HIS cave tied to the computer, trying to figure things out, so needless to say their relationship was beginning to feel strained. There was no sign of things looking up, and it seemed like they were trapped in a death spiral.
Has this happened to you before? It could be you’re in the middle of your own tragic story at this very minute.
Stay close and listen in, so we can unpack the lessons here and all learn together. We must know how to rise victoriously from the ashes. Being strong women in the Lord will help us be a light to the world whose only alternative is futile at best.
We have access to the throne of grace as daughters of the King. And when we humbly come before Him and confess our sin, He will be faithful to hear us and forgive us. My friend told me that the day she was balling her eyes out on the floor in her closet was the day she learned a very important lesson. Her migraine had come on full force. All she wanted was to fall asleep. That things would somehow be better in the morning. But she was convicted that she needed to first repent. And that’s what she did, laying on the floor, covered in tears, in extreme pain, she humbly surrendered before His throne and confessed her sin.
The beauty of this story is that not many weeks before all of this went down, her Pastor had preached a sermon on Lamentations. She learned that when you use your prayers to lament over your circumstances instead of complaining, it can be a great way to lay your sorrows out in front of God.
👉 We must go to God when we are angry, sorrowful, hopeless, or feeling helpless because He cares for us greatly, but we don’t want to complain about God or try and come to Him with an attitude of bitterness, resentment, or grumbling. Why? In Numbers 11:1, it talks about the Israelites complaining and how it made God angry.
If our goal is to please God, complaining does the opposite. It makes Him angry.
Continuing on in that chapter, when they were complaining so much about not having meat, it made Moses cry out to God because his burden of the people was too much for one man to bear. In the end, God gave the people the meat they wanted, but it came with a plague and the ones who were greedy, died. (Numbers 11:31-35)
Complaining robs us of all the peace and joy Jesus died to give us. Read the story of Job to see how this man lost everything, and yet Job did not sin or charge God with wrong, Job 1:22.
So back to our story. My friend took the notes she scribbled from that sermon on Lamentations and went to God after confessing her sin of inappropriate anger. She went from being angry with God to lamenting over her circumstances.
Here are the verses that comforted her. You can hear the emotion.
- Psalm 130:1 “Out of the depths I cry out to you, O Lord.”
- Psalm 6:3 “My soul also is greatly troubled. But you, O Lord-how long?”
- John 11:35 “Jesus wept.”
Then she told me how she prayed Psalm 130:1 and Psalm 6:3 back to God using His words mixed with hers.
Her prayer went something like this.
“Out of the depths, I cry out to you, God. I’m drowning in a pit of darkness.
My soul is greatly troubled. God, only you alone can rescue me from this situation. Lord, how much longer will I be waiting for You? How long, God, how long do I have to wait? I’m sinking.
But as I wait for you, God, I praise you. I praise You because You alone are holy, righteous, and just. I praise You because even though it’s tough right now, I know that I can trust you even when I don’t have the answers, and I can’t see a way of escaping this mess.
I confess that I’m scared and tempted to worry. Please forgive me.
I know that You are the One True God. You hold the universe in the palm of Your hand. So yet I will trust you, all of my days I will trust You.
Amen.”
See how she poured her heart to Him? My friend, He knows your heart anyway and delights when you confess your thoughts and emotions to Him and back it up with a firm resolve to remain faithful to Him by trusting Him. Psalm 56:3 says, “When I am afraid, I put my trust in you.”
Her situation was perfectly poised to take her down. It could have killed her marriage, friendships, and who knows what else. She could have become bitter, but she didn’t. 💖
Learn how to pray, and learn your Bible. Know the stories, and see how the characters responded. Because when we pray biblical prayers, God, in His mercy, hears our prayers and answers according to His will.
God lifted her back to where she was no longer angry with Him and restored her peace. He is Sovereign, and His plans will always prevail. We can respond more quickly to life’s tragedies when we know our Bibles, just like my friend did. It was God’s providence that she heard that sermon on Lamentations. And I believe it’s by providential means that you’re here today.
