Are You Angry and Disappointed with God?
Out of all the battles you’ll as a Christian on your journey of faith, one of the most subtle and effective ways the enemy will attempt to gain territory in your life is to weaken your faith in the Lord. How does he do that? By waiting until you’re vulnerable to attack. When you’re angry and disappointed with God, you’re vulnerable and your adversary has no allies and no mercy – but your Father in heaven does.
The Lord is rich in mercy (Ephesians 2:4) and He is on your side. (Psalm 118:6) But when life is at its lowest and darkest points, when you’re hurting more than you ever thought possible, it’s normal to feel disappointment and even anger with God and to wonder why He isn’t stepping in to help. What now?
If You’re Angry and Disappointed with God – He Already Knows
If you’re struggling in your faith or feeling disappointment with God for any reason, your worship needs to concentrate and accelerate, but that’s easier said than done!
- Why worship a God you’re disappointed with?
- Why worship a God who didn’t come through as you expected Him to, as you’d hope He would?
- Why worship a God who hears and sees, but doesn’t seem to do anything about it?
- Why worship a God who could have changed things and didn’t?
These are very real questions and only the Lord can reveal the answers – that is why you must seek Him in the darkness you’re walking through. Your enemy hates you. He knows you are angry and disappointed with God, and he will use your agony to try and break the vital connection you have with the Lord in your heart, so that you’ll lose the joy of your salvation. The enemy knows that the joy of the Lord is your strength, (Neh. 8:10) and he knows that in the presence of the Lord is “fullness of joy”. (Psalm 16:11) That is why you must press in to His presence even amid your disappointment with God.
Is it Okay to be Angry with God?
Did you ever stop to think that Satan, as a former worshipper before the Lord, might have a better understanding about the supernatural power of praise than you? (Ezekiel 28:12-19) That is why he wants to use your anger and disappointment at God to get you to walk away, or build walls around your heart- and that is why you must tear them down. You’re not a bad Christian for being angry and disappointed with God. You just can’t stay that way.
The Lord understands you, what you’re feeling and how you think. He’s fully aware of your anger at Him, or your inner thoughts toward Him. (Psalm 33:15) He wants to prove two important things through this difficult season you’re in: He wants to prove who He is to you in a new way, and He wants to prove to you who you are.
As a follower of Christ, you must seek within the Word, in prayer and pour out your heart to learn those areas in which you’re angry or disappointed with God. He wants to expose the root- and show you the truth so you can be set free. Maybe someone died when you stood in faith that they’d live. Maybe you needed money and you trusted in God and you lost your home. Maybe you thought a miracle would come and it didn’t. Maybe you watched evil “win”. (Psalm 73:3)
Life will always present you with reasons to be angry and disappointed with God because those experiences are part of life in a fallen world, but if the Lord is really your Shepherd, you can trust His leading. He wants to connect with you in worship so you can breakthrough those difficult realities and can move ahead in your life. He loves you so very much.
Some of the disappointments you’re walking through are simply because of the nature of the sinful fallen world, and some stem from setting your own expectations and God didn’t meet them. But remember, anger makes a place for Satan to legally operate in your life (Eph. 4:27) so of course he wants you to get stuck there!
Fight Anger and Disappointment With God Using Faith Weapons
Prayer, the Word and worship are real weapons with real power against a real enemy and when you start to wield those weapons with authority, you can expect a battle. But the first enemy you’ll face is yourself. Satan is not an enemy who likes to lose, and God never loses when He fights, so you can expect a battle within yourself, but you’re not alone.
Some of the disappointments we walk through are simply the nature of the sinful fallen world, and some stem from setting our own expectations and God didn’t meet them.
~Alicia Purdy
The enemy has legal access to you through spiritual darkness, so you must “walk in the light has He is in the light.” (1 John 4:7) That means, although you may be angry and disappointed with God, you will need to address those things with God’s help. He will help you fight to the death!
- The death of your fear and its tormenting spirits
- The death of pride and its ravages
- The death of pain and its empty hopelessness
- The death of gnawing regret from past mistakes
- The death of condemnation for your sinful actions
- The death of insecurities and anxieties and how you’ve let them rule you
- The death of unforgiveness at God, at others and unforgiveness of yourself
- The death of anger, rage, malice, and revenge
- The death of disappointment at unmet expectations that keep you trapped in misery
- and more!
Launch all that ugliness at God. He can take it! Plus, He is already well aware of how you feel and everything you’re thinking and saying, so you may as well own up to it and scream, kick, rage, ask, seek, knock in the “secret place” of His presence. Β All the questions you struggle with, while very real to you, are based on your expectations of who you think God is and who you think He should be and what you think He should do.
Then, when He doesn’t meet those expectations, you become angry and disappointed and disillusioned with Him and lose your desire to draw close to Him. Watch out! It’s a subtle and effective tactic of the Adversary to disconnect you from worship, prayer and the Word of God – the three weapons you actually need to have the victory!
Thought for today: Anger and Disappointment with God are Enemies, not Feelings
God has a hope and a future for you (Jeremiah 29:11). “Surely there is a future, and your hope will not be cut off.” (Proverbs 23:18) “Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Spirit.“ (Romans 15:13)
It is okay to be angry and disappointed with God, but it’s not okay to succumb and let it take root in your heart because Satan will use that bitterness to suck away your desire to be near to the Lord when HE is what you need.
God has a plan in place! The Lord fulfills His own plans and meets His own expectations, not yours, and while that may be hard to accept, remember that His ways are higher than yours. (Isaiah 55:8-9) You can never have a better plan for anything than God does. Never forget this: It is more important to find out what the Lord is going to do and get on board, than to tell Him what you want Him to do.
You must fight against anything that keeps you weak and in pain and victimized or keeps you angry at God. (Ephesians 6:12) Don’t give up! Worship is a sign of life and of your faith, so worship the Lord and take hope! Time with God in His presence through worship, the power of His Word (Hebrews 4:12) and your communication through prayer is recipe for breakthrough! Remember, the antidote for disappointment is hope and “hope does not disappoint.” (Romans 5:5)
The Lord Wants to Show You the Breakthrough He Has Ready!
“Worship in the Whale: Jonah’s Praise Under Pressure”
“4 Victories You’ll Win Through Spiritual Warfare in Worship”
Donβt forget to pick up a copy of The Way of the Worshipper on Amazon β and AVAILABLE NOW you can also purchase The Way of the Worshipper: A Devotional Workbook for deeper study, personal examination and spiritual growth!
4 Comments
Greg
I really appreciate that you address some of the hard, yet relevant issues we all struggle with!
I lost my faith many years ago due to the unanswered question; How do I continue to trust a God I can’t depend on?
Glory to God he drew me back through much physical pain to cry out to Him for mercy and healing.
Well the mercy came, but not the healing, so I still struggle with this to this day.
I really like you ministering page here.
Thank You for your labor.
Alicia
Thank you for taking the time to share about your journey! I, too, have found that His mercies are new every morning, even as I work through the trials of life as well. He is always faithful and ever present. You are not alone. Keep fighting, because you are an able minister of the gospel, and a witness to the goodness of God- and you trust Him, in faith, knowing that you can depend on Him to never leave you nor forsake you.
Margaret Miller
Thanks so much for this article. You have thrown me a lifeline.
Alicia
Praise the Lord! I am so glad I can share with you the life line the Lord has thrown me. He is so faithful. <3