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MAD AT GOD?!.

(By the way, anyone who reads this, please withhold judgment, until the end of the article.)

Are  you angry at God?

Are you?

Are you disappointed with Him?

Has God let you down in some regard?

Has the Lord answered your prayers the way you wanted Him to?

Has the Lord kept His promises to you?

Have the promises in the Bible seemed to be true when you prayed?

Has God failed to meet certain expectations?

Am I upset with You, Lord?

Am I disappointed with You, Lord?

Have You let me down in some regard?

Have You, Lord, answered my prayers the way I wanted You to?

Have You, Lord, kept Your promises to me?

Have the promises in the Bible seemed to be true when I prayed?

Have You, God, failed to meet certain expectations of mine

Disgruntled?

Upset?

Disappointed?

Dissatisfied?

Angry?

Bitter?

Dismay? 

Sorrow?

Petulance? 

Ill-tempered? 

Passive?      Inactive?      Withdrawn?      Lazy?      Lukewarm?    On "strike"?  

We encourage you to journal times in your past that have caused you to be angry or disappointed with God.  Take some time.  Ask the Lord to help you.  Count off the years.  Write them down.

It seems as though You, Lord, made certain promises to me, that You have not fulfilled. 

For years, prophecies have come that have not been fulfilled.

Almost all of my life, I have lived in a state of keen expectancy and high anticipation.

Yet, to speak for God, it may be as though God would say to me:

"WHERE DO you GET justified for BEING UPSET WITH ME?"

"WHO ARE you, ANYWAY?"

"WHO GAVE you THE RIGHT TO BE ANGRY WITH ME?"

"BETTER BE CAREFUL, boy, 'CAUSE I HAVE THE POWER TO DESTROY you."

"you ARE you, AND I AM GOD."

"DON'T you TRUST ME?"

"HOW DARE you SPEAK TO ME THAT WAY?"

"REMEMBER, you DESERVE ONLY AN ETERNITY IN HELL!"

"I HAVE HALF A MIND TO STRIKE YOU DEAD ON THE SPOT!"

Sometimes some of my life seems like a Cosmic Joke, or that God has a sick sense of humour.

Can it be that God doesn't care? 

Is it possible that God has a sadistic side?

Are there some cruel aspects of God's nature?

What about that time (or all those times) when you or I asked God to do so and so, or such and such, but it didn't happen?

If God were so loving and so great, why would He allow bad stuff to happen?

Why would God allow good people to suffer?  Why pain and suffering? 

Why poverty, war, cruelty, disease, starvation, rape, child molestation, murder, torture, sadness and discouragement?

GOD IS NOT WRONG!

YAHWEH DOES ALL THINGS WELL.

GOD IS EVER RIGHT,  WISE, LOVING, TRUSTABLE, GOOD, TRUE, DEPENDABLE, HONEST.

I trust in You, Dear Lord, to meet my needs. 

I trust You Lord, to do what You have said.

I am trusting You, Dear Lord, to fulfill what You have promised.

I am trusting You, Father God, to be my Friend.

I trust You Lord, to be God to me on Your Own loving terms.

I trust You Father, to do what is best for me.

I trust You, Papa Yahweh, to do to me and mine, what is best for us.

I am trusting You, Father, to be all to me that You need to be, in order

                   for me to be all that I need to be for You.

In God I trust. 

I trust You, Lord.

I humbly apologize and ask for Your forgiveness for being upset with You about stuff....

Kevin's Illustration:  (Ask him about it.)

Lady at the International Conference on the Holy Spirit
 

Some years ago, I had been asked to be a deliverance ministry counselor at the International Conference on the Holy Spirit, held at the Civic Center in Minneapolis. There came a lady whose problem was that she would break out into uncontrollable crying spells all unexpectedly.  She might be in a church service, a wedding, or in a restaurant, or entertaining guests in her home, when, without warning, she would begin crying and sobbing uncontrollably.  There are various kinds of deliverance ministries.   Some ministries might then and there have gone after a "boo-hoo spirit".  I asked the lady about her circumstances, as to an obvious cause of her crying.  All was going well - her finances, her marriage and family, her health, her walk with God, etc.   When nothing became obvious, I asked the lady to gently look to the Lord with me, to see if He would reveal the cause of the problem.   So, together, we looked to the Lord right there on the spot.  As I was waiting on the Lord, I received an interesting vision.  In this vision, I could see this woman as she might have looked when she was 5 years old.  The Lord gave me to know that it was this woman I was seeing, and that the problem originated at that time.   So, I gently asked this lady what had happened to her when she was 5 years old.  She was very surprised, but answered, "Why, that's how old I was when my father died!"   I asked her, "Then what happened?"  She replied, that her mother, during the war years, when there was a shortage of men, settled for a man who would accept her as his wife, but not the children as his own.  She explained that her mother married the man, thinking that he would come to accept the children as his own, which he never did.  This resulted in this girl and her brothers and sisters being placed in orphanages, in foster homes, and so on, until she grew up, became 18 years of age, accepted Christ as her Savior within.  Then, she lived happily ever after.

It seemed that the Lord was leading me.  I asked the lady if she would be willing to repeat a prayer after me.  She said that she would.   So, I said, "Dear Heavenly Father - "  And she said, "Dear Heavenly Father - "  I said, "I forgive You for killing my dad."

The woman looked at me in shock, and said, "Why, I can't pray that prayer!"   So I explained that she would probably agree that if God did not actually kill her father, that He could have at least kept him from dying, in which case would she be willing to pray, and say, "Lord, I forgive You for allowing my father to die." 

When she prayed that prayer, the woman was delivered and freed.  Then I followed up by asking the woman, that even though her mother was absent, would she be willing to pray and forgive her mother for allowing her and her siblings to be rejected.  When she prayed that prayer of forgiveness, both to God, and for her mother, the woman was completely delivered. 

Here is what was happening.  On a conscious level, this woman had been taught all of her life, that God is great, and that God is good, and loving and kind and protective and that He does not go around killing little girls' daddies.  So, on a conscious level she would be relating to God on that level.  But, on a sub-conscious level, the little 5 year old girl within her was crying out in woeful despair, "Lord, why did You kill my daddy???!!!"  "Why did You cause us to be rejected?"

My favorite Scripture is 2 Corinthians 3:18 which says,  "But we all, with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit."  (NAS)  One of the main reasons most people do not behold the glory of the Lord is because their veils between them and God are not taken away.  These veils might concern unbelief, ignorance, rebellion, or some other sin.  One of the most common veils that most people have that stands as a barrier between them and God, is the veil of resentments, unforgivnesses, anger, bitterness toward God.  Sometimes this anger reaches the level of rage and hatred.  But, most Christians learn to stifle and stuff and cover that rage or  resentment because they are religious, and do not want to be disrespectful toward God.  In some cases, they do not express their feelings of resentment, because they are afraid that God will punish them if they make their true feelings known. 

But, before any progress can be made in God, this all must be dredged up and confessed, and the person must actually forgive God and give up their resentment and bitterness and unforgiveness, in order to go free. 

Can you see the effect bitterness has on one's relationship to God and to His representatives?  It is difficult to enthusiastically serve, or worship or be really intimate and affectionate with One you are bitter towards.  Most Christians carry a conscious or sub-conscious bitterness or resentment toward God, because God let them down or disappointed them or failed to meet their expectations, or failed to answer their prayers, fulfill their prophecies, meet their needs, or even fulfill Bible Scriptures.  Many Christians develop a "Victim's Mentality", and begin acting the same as a child would who has been abused.

I repeat:  It is difficult for a person to enthusiastically serve, or worship or give to, or give thanks to a God Who has repeatedly disappointed them, failed to meet their expectations, answer their prayers, or fulfill His promises.  But this is exactly the position most Christians find themselves in. 

They react in any number of the following ways:  rebellion, go on strike, develop a victim's mentality, including such things as self-pity, withdrawal, become zombie-like, and lethargic, etc.  Some continue to go through the motions, even in ministry, yet, beneath the surface, sometimes well disguised, is a state of rage and resentment toward God.  This resentment can come out in unexpected times and ways.  It can affect one's marriage, the family, worship, giving, service, relationships with others, even one's driving, one's impatience.   It can negatively affect one's whole personality, and can bleed through in a person's every form of communication.  The Bible says, in Heb 12:15:  "See to it that no one comes short of the grace of God; that no root of bitterness springing up causes trouble, and by it many be defiled;"  (NAS)  This  bitterness can telegraph itself in such a way as to negatively affect one's spouse and children, and every relationship one has.  Quite often, one's children can turn against God, because this negative attitude toward God has been telegraphed to them.

Another negative aspect of resentment toward God, is the reaction one can have toward all of those who represent God.  The negative aspects and associations get attributed to those who stand to represent God.

For example, let's say that a man named Smith owned a company.  The product failed to meet expectations.  The anger or frustration with the company would be directed toward the representatives of the company.  In the same way, if I am angry with God, it would be easy to be angry with those who represent Him.  A most horrible rape, of a father against his daughter, took place when the elders of the church she attended told him that the salvation being offered was not for the likes of a third class citizen like him.  As she was being raped and bitten, the father was saying, "This is what I think of your God."  And, "This is what I think of your church." And "This is what I think of God's people."

Whereas you may not carry your resentment toward God to this extreme, nevertheless, God's people can sometimes be victimized by degrees because of resentment toward the God these people claim to represent.

There are some people who will refuse to give up their resentment toward God, and they will take it with them into hell.  Rev 16:11  "And they blasphemed (cursed) the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores; and they did not repent of their deeds." (NAS)  [See also verses 9 & 21].

There is one good thing I can think of to say about bitterness and resentment.  We can exercise, by a choice of our will, the ability to give it up.  One of the problems, however, is that resentment and bitterness, like an illicit drug, can feeeeeeeeeeeeeeeel goooooooood.  Some people feel justified in their anger toward God.  They will continue to be angry with God until God apologizes to them and when God starts being the Santa Clause God of their image.   The problem with this is that God will not play that game.  God will insist, if He really loves a person, on relating to you on His terms, and not your own.   We can chose to like it or not.   Fortunately or unfortunately, as the case may be, God gets to win and will win every argument.  God is entitled.  God is a privileged Character.  God gets the last word.  Therefore, we encourage you to agree with Him, forgive Him, get on His side, sweetly allow Him to have His way.

About two-thirds of the Psalms are negative, with David being really honest about how he felt toward God.  Yet, in spite of his sins, God called David "a man after His Own heart."  I believe that it was because David was honest with the Lord about how he felt toward God.  For this reason we recommend two Bible versions as it relates to the Psalms: The Living Bible, and The Message, by Peterson, as contrasted with, say, the King James Bible.  For example, in Psalm 10,  "Why standest Thou afar off, O LORD (Yahweh)?  Why hidest Thou Thyself in times of trouble?"  (KJV)  But the Living Bible says, "Lord, why do You always run and hide when trouble comes;"  In Psalm 13, the King James says,  "How long wilt Thou forget me, O LORD (Yahweh)?  For ever?  How long wilt Thou hide thy face from me?"   In Ps 39:10 King James Bible says, "Remove Thy stroke away from me: I am consumed by the blow of Thine hand."  The Living Bible says, "Lord, please don't hit me any more."

The answer is for each person to do a catharsis, to actually note and recall the issues between them and God.  Then one must forgive God, and to give up one's own bitterness, or resentment, or unforgiveness, or petulance, or rage toward God.

"Fear not!  Falter nor!  Faint not!  Lift up your heads and rejoice, for your redemption draws nigh!!!  This is the time to keep your spirits high!  Right now there is a test to see if you will continue to qualify for the end-time people of God.  It is a test of enthusiasm.  Enthusiasm comes from two Greek words:  "EN" + "THEOS", which means "in God"!  God is telling us to keep our selves in a continual state of high expectation, great anticipation, glorious faith, and steadfast hope.  Before you allow the devil to bring out all of your reasons why you have a right to be discouraged, simply take it by faith that you and I have no right to grumble, mumble, murmur nor complain.  The best thing to say about discouragement and depression is that you and I can choose with our will, we can simply decide to be encouraged AND enthusiastic.  40 years ago I used to sell cookware called Rena Ware.  When we would get together at a sales rally, someone would yell, "What's Rena Ware got?"  and we would all yell, "ENTHUSIASM!"  Well, as good as Rena Ware was and is, those of us in Christ really, really have a lot to shout about!!!  And shout we shall!  What is there in Christ to yell about?  Enthusiasm!  For when we are in Christ, and when Christ is in us, the Creator King of Everything, then by God, we reeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeally have something to shout about!!!   The Word of the Hour is that we must keep the fire of our faith burning brightly, must keep our expectation razor sharp and our anticipaton white hot. 

Most people are consciously or subconsiously bitter toward God, and hence, are either angry toward Him, or, by degrees, have left their first love, and have taken upon themselves a "victim's mentality".  Most people feel that they have been abused by God, let down and neglected because the Lord failed to meet their expectations.  But, we need to get over all of this, rise from the dust of our doldrums and polish up our faith, sharpen the sword of our excitment in God, fire up our keen anticipation, get on tip-toe with great expectation!!!  I used to love to quote that verse, Prov 13:12  "Hope deferred maketh the heart sick - -."   It gave me justification to go around with a sick heart because God had delayed.  But the next verse says, "Whoso despiseth the Word shall be destroyed: but he that feareth the commandment shall be rewarded."  This verse speaks of the life and death importance of believing all of the bright promises and comandments of God relating to faith, believing, hoping, anticipating, expecting, rejoicing, shouting, praising.

Jonah 4:9  "But God said to Jonah, ‘Do you have a right to be angry about the vine?' ‘I do,' he said. ‘I am angry enough to die.' " (NIV)

Contrast this with 1:14d  " ‘For You, O Yahweh, have done as You pleased.' "(NIV)  How sadly the Book of Jonah closes on his bitterness.  The same thing is true of the Prodigal Son's Older Brother. 

Job:  "Though He slay me, still I will trust Him."  God is calling us to the place where we will trust Him no matter what happens.  We will keep expecting, keep believing, keep hoping, keep trusting, keep shouting, keep rejoicing, keep dancing, keep clapping, keep worshipping, keep giving thanks.  Only this kind of person will qualify as one of His Overcomers, because they overcame their resentment toward God.

Q:?  What would it take for you to no longer be friends with God?

Serving Christ for love's dear sake alone!!! 

Read the poem and write another.

Make a vow to God.

Vow Of Total Commitment To God

I hereby solemnly vow to trust You God, no matter what happens. 

I promise to praise You God, no matter what happens. 

I promise to serve You God, no matter what happens.. 

I will not quit, go on strike, backslide, be bitter, angry, or resentful, no matter how You, God, treat me.

You, God, have my permission to treat me however You like, have my permission to disappoint me, to fail to meet my expectations, to take as long You like to answer prayers.  I will give thanks in & for everything. 

If my prayers, hopes, aspirations, dreams, personal prophecies, desires, expectations, wishes, wants, are never met, I will trust, obey, serve and praise You aggressively, O my God. 

If even the promises found in the Bible seem to fail to be fulfilled in my lifetime, I will still trust, obey, serve and praise You, my God. 

I will remember that You are Almighty God, and that I am human. 

I will rejoice evermore, no matter what happens. 

Though He slay me, yet will I trust and obey You My Lord and My God. 

Date:_____________________________________ 

Witness:__________________________________ 

Signature: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

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