God is Not Angry

Last blog we discussed some of God’s attributes, facts about God. We said that God is perfect meaning that whatever He does is perfect, however He chooses to do it is always the most perfect way it could be done.

In addition to perfection, we said, God is good. Meaning He never commits evil, He never dwells in darkness but rather unapproachable light. He is good so that means His plans are good, as are His ways, His heart, His intentions and motives. God is good… that carries a lot more weight than you would think.

God is loving, kind and compassionate.

Alright, let’s just hold up right here. Put the brakes on, red light. I thought God was mad. I thought He wanted to kill everyone. Even His followers, like they always seem to be tiptoeing around trying to not get struck by lightning. Right? So how can all these things be true about God?

I am finding out more and more that this right here is an extremely common misconception.

A lot of us growing up were told the “do’s” and “don’ts” of living a morally acceptable life. A lot of us were told that if we do the don’ts God would be angry.

Now, what is the truth in there? A lot of times underneath widely held to beliefs or traditions there is in fact a sliver of truth, sometimes more sometimes less, underneath a poorly carried out system. So, as a follower of Christ my mission should always be to seek out the truth. Where is it in this case?

Well, the truth here is that God despises sin. It separates us from Him, it brings darkness, agony and death. That is a truth I think we forget a lot. I think we start to think God just doesn’t want us to have fun or be free. But the truth is the very opposite.

God wants us to be absolutely free. Free from sin, shame, guilt and darkness. These things do not come from God telling us that the things we like doing are wrong. Shame, guilt and darkness come from the things themselves. Sin, aka lust, stealing, coveting, envy, murder, hatred… these things are cages in and of themselves. They do not possess goodness and light and they do not produce goodness and light either.

So, this part of the misconception is that God just doesn’t like the things we do, He just doesn’t like fun and freedom when in reality God knows the things that will kill us, our Spirit, our joy, peace and hope and in exchange, eternally enslave us to shame, guilt and regret. His desire is to free us from those things freely, through the cleansing blood sacrifice of His Perfect Son Jesus Christ.

Shew. Amen! Right?! Like is there better news?? No! There truly is not.

That guy texting you back and saying he finds you attractive is not better news than this. That job offer, that acceptance letter, that invite to the party… Sure, these things can lead to momentary happiness, a faux feeling of worth or acceptance… but these feelings will fade, they will not satisfy. I promise. I had that boyfriend. I went to those parties. I had that surface level happiness, beauty, success… it was worthless. It didn’t last. I would go to bed at night searching for something more in it all and it all proved to be empty. So empty. I thought if I gave more of myself to it, committed to that lifestyle, maybe then. But the more I gave the emptier I was. The more I searched for happiness, the more I looked for acceptance.

But then, God.

He scooped me up right where I was. Opened my blind eyes, breathed life into my dead corpse. He gave me a new heart and began breaking the chains that bound me to hopelessness, anxiety, depression and sleepless nights, lust, envy and evil. He heals me daily from these things. He grabs me when I start to slip. He never lets me out of His sight or His palm. He leads me beside still waters and makes me lie down in green pastures.

Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, chapter 2, verses 1 through 10:

And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with Him and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages He might show the immeasurable riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

He is not angry. He does want you to be with Him. For your good, not to take away your happiness but to take away the things you worship thinking they will bring you happiness and replacing them with things that will bring you unending joy and gladness. He knows what you need, what you thrive on, what you desire because He created you. He is an expert in all things YOU.

Okay, so let’s go back to this widely held to teaching of if you step out of line, God is going to give you the silent treatment.

This stems from what happened in the Garden of Eden all of those years ago. When Adam and Eve sinned, they separated themselves from God (The book of Genesis, chapter 3). Today, sin does the same thing. It’s a way for us to say, I want to be God instead of God being God. We want to choose right and wrong for ourselves. It leads to death and separation from God. But God (there it is again…) gave us a free way to be reunited with Him through His Son Jesus.

So, what this teaching is missing is the Gospel. Like so many “Christian” but not Christian teachings do today. If you hear a teaching in church and it doesn’t connect you to the Gospel of Jesus Christ- the good news of Him coming to die and freely saving you from the wrath of God… that’s not teaching that should be in church.

Moving on.

I am not saying that this teaching did not begin with good intentions, but it taught its students that if they were to step out of line God hated them. It taught us that God had a certain amount of patience’s and they could be used up.

I still catch myself falling into this wrong line of thinking. I’m like, “God, aren’t you FRUSTRATED with me today??” I mean how could He not be! I sat down to read His Word and got distracted so many times I can’t remember a THING. I started thinking about interior décor and my menu for this week and all of these little, in the end worthless things that do not deserve attention before God.

And then, I do read His word and it tells this story of His unending grace and mercy. It shows Him constantly giving people goodness that they do not deserve. Chance after chance to do better, to be better. He forgives and He forgives and He forgives and THAT my lovely friend, is God’s character. It’s unfathomable because most of us cannot relate. But it is so very beautiful.

I use to get so frustrated with the Israelites. They would see God in huge amazing ways and then a couple days later they would be grumbling and complaining again and cheating on God (The book of Exodus). Over and over this narrative played out and I’d be like, really guys?? Get it TOGETHER. But now, I am so thankful for their story, for their mess-ups, for their imperfections. Because their story shows me how God deals with disobedience and unfaithfulness. He meets it with mercy, zeal for His name, and faithfulness to His promises.

And that was before Jesus died for our sins! NOW we stand before God with Jesus’ righteousness imputed on us and don’t have to kill a goat to make atonement for our lying or stealing or cheating…! It’s INSANE.

God is not angry, just waiting with a lightning bolt to strike you down and fry you alive if you ever step out of line.

God is walking alongside you, leading you (please let Him), ready to show you grace and mercy when you fall down or run away or get lost (because we fail to let Him lead), just waiting for a teaching moment, like a good Father, to make you stronger, more joyous and faithful.

God is not angry, love, He is perfect, good, loving, kind, and compassionate.