I must realize that unless I get angry with God occasionally my dedication is not worth a wooden nickel. Jeremiah got so frustrated with God that he said God was like a “deceptive [changeable] brook” (Jeremiah 15:18, NIV). Further, he vowed he would not prophesy for Him any longer (20:7–9). The only person who never got angry with God was Jesus, and that was because He understood His heavenly Father so perfectly. Anger is a sign of two things: I do not understand, but I care. God would rather have me angry with Him than indifferent to Him.
I must be certain, however, that my anger is not peevishness, like Jonah’s. Peevishness says, “God won’t let me have my way.” Concerned anger says, “I can’t see the relationship between what God says He will do and what He is doing.” David’s frustration with God because of the death of Uzzah is a lesson to me (2 Samuel 6:6–20). David was angry because he sensed a contradiction in God, righteousness versus grace. That is the way it is with me. When God becomes angry with me, it is because of my sin and rebelliousness; when I become angry with Him, it is because of His righteousness, which I think is rigid.
God is not shocked by my occasional anger. But I must be quick to confess it. Chronic anger will lead me to cynicism, which God hates. Confessing my anger is a sign of faith. It says, “I don’t understand any better, but I trust God anyhow.” I must never assume that because I get angry with God I am a poor believer. On the contrary, it is a sign of a developing relationship with Him. If I am always correct with God, I do not know Him personally. When I am free to become angry, I am free to become myself. And being myself, I am free to grow toward Him. That is the key: to keep growing toward “the stature of the fulness of Christ” (Ephesians 4:13, KJV).
“Do not be eager in your heart to be angry, for anger resides in the bosom of fools” (Ecclesiastes 7:9).
Daily with the King 