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Obviously nobody has the right to be angry at God, but we all are mad at him because we are all broken and sinful. How, then, should we deal with that anger?

For me at least, part of the answer includes talking to him about it, not hiding. While confession and repentance are irreplaceable, they have not gotten all the anger out of my heart. Something else is needful. What is it?

If you hurt, who is the safest Person in the universe to share the ache with? Father, of course. When you celebrate big, who is more excited than anyone? Mm hmm. Jesus.

Who will “rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep” including when you’re the one sobbing? Jesus. Romans 12:15.

If you fall to a sin, where is the safest place to run? Yeah, God is. He is the most loving, most tender One.

No one is more passionate about restoring broken relationships with God than God himself.

“A bruised reed he will not break,” which means you, “and a faintly burning wick he will not quench; he will faithfully bring forth justice.” Isaiah 42:3.

So when you are angry, including at the Almighty, who is the best Counselor (Isaiah 9:6) to ask for help, who will never condemn the humble and broken (James 4:6, Psalm 51:17)? Abba Daddy Father (Romans 8:15)!

Picture a small child angry at daddy for making her eat green beans. If her father is a loving, compassionate man, and she comes to him humbly asking for help, “Daddy, I’m mad at you but I know I shouldn’t be. Can you help me work though this?”, how will he respond? Will he scream, “How dare you??” Would he beat her? You know he would pick her up gently, plop her on his lap, and give her a big, warm hug. His face would only show patience and love. If he’s a good, good father, no place is safer than in his arms, even when she’s confessing her anger toward him.

Or looking at it from a different angle, isn’t reconciliation part of any great friendship? We cross lines. We hurt and get hurt. Then we face it, ask forgiveness, and move on. The friendship is often stronger than before because we weathered a storm together. It deepens bonds, not weakens them, when it’s done in a healthy way by both sides.

Even though God is always right, the same principles apply. After all, He is the One who invented friendship. You and I cross God’s lines. He crosses ours (though he is always right to do it). We sweat and maybe cry with each other (Romans 8:15). We work though it together with Him.

Who else is as caring (1 Peter 5:7)? Who else is full of tender mercies? (Psalm 25:6). Reconciliation is the whole reason He sent Jesus. No one is more passionate about restoring broken relationships with God than God himself.

Bring your anger to Daddy. Ask “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger [yes, that’s just how He is!], and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness” (Exodus 34:5-6) for help. He is the Friend of Sinners (Matthew 11:19), not the Enemy. He is as safe for you as your womb is for your baby.

Life with Jesus is a lot like driving in the dark with a big ol’ truck or Jeep with those big lights mounted on top. You can see 500’ ahead of you, never more, and seldom less. You see obstacles and often treacherous territory right in front of you basically all the time. That never changes. So for a while you panic at scary things in the night. You feel stressed whenever there’s a cliff straight ahead or signs of an ambush. Sometimes things seem to be lurking just out of sight. After like 10,000 miles of this, you start to go, “Know what? I’m seeing a pattern here. It feels like no matter which direction I turn, there’s trouble ahead. But as long as I follow Jesus, he always gets me through and I always gain way more than I lose. So yeah, now there’s a grizzly ten yards away and he doesn’t look friendly, but so what? I already know how this little chapter is going to end because I’ve done it a zillion times. Jesus will tell me how to navigate this and I’m going to obey. Then I’ll come out the other side and there’ll be some other monster, and we’ll repeat the cycle. That’s how it always goes. So I’m going to eat this hamburger nice and slow and slurp my drink. I’m not gonna go into Fight-or-Flight mode, which never accomplishes jack. King Jesus, tell me which way to go and I’ll do it, and that will be that.”

Maybe “put on the armor of God” means put on the same armor God himself uses. That makes the Ephesians passage carry a lot more gravity, or so it seems to me.

“He put on righteousness as a breastplate, and a helmet of salvation on his head; he put on garments of vengeance for clothing, and wrapped himself in zeal as a cloak.”
‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭59‬:‭17‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God,”
‭‭Ephesians‬ ‭6‬:‭13‬-‭14‬, ‭17‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Nothing in the world has quite the poetry of a leaf flying to the ground. A swarm of thousands flowing sideways in the wind is another glory in itself. There is a beauty in a green leaf falling, which differs from electric reds and yellows descending, followed by a perhaps solemnity of crispy brown ones. Here in early autumn, half the leaves look like shards of stained glass windows falling in slow mo, and the rest are oil paintings of a young hippie artist just discovering psychedelics, who isn’t aware whether he’s awake or dreaming.

When patients at the hospital aren’t able to eat or drink for a day, or sometimes for many weeks, they can get really desperate. I knew of one lady who bit her IV tubing in half and was sucking on the fluids because she wanted to drink something.

It always strikes me because there’s no high-tech science involved in what they want from the doctor, just some beef broth or a soda cracker. Everyone shares this elemental human need — the billionaire sheiks, the homeless people, right down to you and me taking our breakfast this morning.

It’s so just down-to-earth.

It strikes me also because it’s a prominent part of heaven. Once God has rescued all who follow him (and everyone is invited to) from all the injustices of this life, after the Great Judgment of the living and the dead concludes, when the old heavens and earth pass away and the new ones come, we eat and drink. (Revelation 19:9, Matt 25:1-13)

It makes one wonder what kind of God this is whose heart is so down-to-earth that one of his promises about endless paradise is we feast!