Angry at God
We would not choose what God may use.
"He's an on-time God" works well on a coffee cup until you have to drink it. "God has a plan" looks nice on a T-shirt until you have to trust it. You bought a bumper sticker that said, "God is my pilot" and then totaled that car.
There are lots of things Christians like to say but do not like to do.
When someone smashes our bumper sticker faith, we become angry at God.
Habakkuk was an angry prophet. His prayers were unanswered, his life was unfair, and God's promises seemed untrue. And so the prophet does not begin his book with preaching, but by pitching a fit.
O Lord, how long shall I cry for help, and you will not hear? Or cry to you "Violence!" and you will not save? Why do you make me see iniquity, and why do you idly look at wrong? Destruction and violence are before me; strife and contention arise. So the law is paralyzed, and justice never goes forth. For the wicked surround the righteous; so justice goes forth perverted.
Habakkuk 1:2-4
And God answers.
Look among the nations, and see; wonder and be astounded. For I am doing a work in your days that you would not believe if told.
Habakkuk 1:5
Often when God answers, He does not explain Himself; he explains you.
Even if God explained it, you wouldn't believe it.
You don't understand it because you don't want it.
You don't like what God is doing because that's not the way you want it done.
God brings more bad news to the angry prophet.
For behold, I am raising up the Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty nation, who march through the breadth of the earth, to seize dwellings not their own.
Habukkuk 1:6
You and I would not choose what God may use. We would not choose sickness, or tragedy, or suffering, because it's evil. God does not choose evil, but he uses it.
We chose evil. God warned our father Adam not to eat of the tree, and from the first bite, we've been trying to spit it out.
So God did not choose evil, but he uses it. Joseph was abused, abandoned, and accused. God used him to save his brothers.
Jesus was betrayed, beaten, and blasphemed. The Messiah bled to death on a cross. What God did with the evil of the cross does not make us mad, but glad. Why? Because in hindsight, the "why" is 20/20.
Our anger at God is because, looking forward, we would not choose what God can use. God's plan does not fit on the front of a coffee cup. Who God is won't work on a T-shirt. Are we angry at God because He's not marketable?
We like things simple. That's why we buy bumper stickers. But God is not simple. We can either rage against the Almighty or we can worship Him and watch Him work.
What you are angry about today, God will give you a reason to rejoice in tomorrow.
Bible Study
Read Isaiah 45:1-17.
- What do you learn from this passage about the awesomeness of God?
- List the reasons this passage gives you to trust God.
- How does this passage call us to praise God?
Challenge
Have a conversation with a fellow believer today and ask them to tell you about a time in their life in which they were angry at God, but now they are thankful for what God brought them through. Listen to their story and compare it to Habakkuk 1 and Isaiah 45. Rebuke your unbelief. Ask God to grow your trust in Him. Ask for His forgiveness for a time you were angry at Him. Express your praise to Him for what He brought you through.
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