Have you ever been mad at God? All of us would never admit this out loud right? Non of us would ever think of saying to others, "I am mad at God. I hate God for what He has done to me and my family. I hate God for not listening to me. I hate God for forgetting about me and ignoring my real problems. I pray and pray and pray and He doesn't answer me." We may say we are frustrated with God, but at the end of the day, we are angry at Him for not being the God we want Him to be. 

We get mad at God for many things in this life. We are angry when we pray for the cancer to go away, and then the doctor says we have less time to live than before. We are angry when our children won't go to church, and that our grandchildren have never been to a Divine Service and we wonder why God won't answer our prayer and get them going to any church. We are mad at God when we get fired and can't find work. We get mad at God when traffic is backed up and we can't get to where we're going on time, but will be late again. We get mad at God for many things. The worst thing we can do is deny this. The worst thing we can do is act as if everything is cool and we always love God and trust Him at His Word. 

We must never lie and act like we aren't angry with God. Yes, we get mad at God, for many and various reasons, and we must repent of this. For St. Paul wrote to the Church in Rome saying, " You will say to me then, “Why does he still find fault? For who can resist his will?” ²⁰ But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, “Why have you made me like this?” ²¹ Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use? ²² What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, ²³ in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory— ²⁴ even us whom he has called, not from the Jews only but also from the Gentiles?" (Romans 9:19-24). This verse is not saying that you don't question God and get mad at Him, but that you shouldn't do this, because He is God and knows what He is doing better than you do. Does this mean we will always see through the suffering to the Wisdom of God and the mercy of His Will? No, but rather that we must be humbled and repent when we doubt God's Word and live in furious anger with Him because He isn't being the God we think He should be.

When we don't think God is being the God we think He should be, it is because we are making God into an idol of our own desires. Yes, when we make God into an idol we can expect an idol's response to our sufferings and problems in life. When we make God into our own image, and into our own likenesses, then we can expect Him to fail us just as we fail Him. 

Rather than God allowing Himself to be made into an idol by us, Christ came and claimed as His own all our idolatrous thoughts and ways. Yes, Jesus knows that, like our first parents, we twist His Word and make our own idols. He knows this and came and assumed as His own all our idolatrous ways. Yes, He came and assumed as His own all our angry moments against Him and His Father. WE get angry at God because we think He isn't keeping His Word. We don't think God is keeping His Word because we want Him to keep our word. Jesus came and assumed all our angry and doubt ridden outbursts against our Father in heaven. He claimed as His own all our disobedient questioning. Jesus came and made His own all our times that we think God doesn't know what He is doing. Jesus came and became all our moments when we believe God is unfair and hates us. Jesus became our anger-ridden doubt. Jesus assumed all our angry thoughts and our hateful views of God. he took them and made them His own, and instead of listening to what we think about His Father, Jesus remembered the words of His Baptism when His Father said, "You are My beloved Son, in Whom I am well pleased." 

Yes, Jesus is the beloved Son of the Father, who came not to be served, but to serve and give His life as a ransom for many. Could Jesus have doubted His Father's love while going through the strife of this life, and being rejected by  many? Yes, Jesus could have seen His disciples leaving Him and gotten mad at His Father for allowing it. Could Jesus had lived in fury against His Father when He was being lied about before the Chief Priests and the people? Could Jesus had abandoned the Word of His Father when Peter denied Him and Judas betrayed Him? Could Jesus have thought that His Father as a liar when the nails were driven into His hands and feet, a crown of thorns buried in His skull, and a spear driven into His side? Could Jesus change from loving Son, to angry child when He was forsaken on the cross for the sake of those who do get mad at God and question His every move? Yes, Jesus could have done all these things, but He didn't. Jesus did not walk away from His destiny of dying in the stead of those who hate God, which includes us. Yes, became the forsaken One on the cross, so that when we feel forsaken and get mad at God, we may be forgiven rather than condemned for our unbelief filled outbursts. Yes, Jesus, on the cross, was forsaken for us, that we may know that our Father will never forsake us. We know this because, Jesus did not remain forsaken, but was raised on the Third Day, preaching to all the world that haters of God are forgiven by His all atoning sacrifice. Yes, on the cross, Jesus died that we may be forgiven for every hate filled moment we have against our Lord.

May the Holy Spirit grant us faith to not lose heart when we feel like God isn't listening to us. May our anger be overcome by the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord as we are forgiven all our outbursts and grudges we hold against God. May the Holy Spirit work on our hearts that we may know and rest assured that the will of our Father is that we live forever with Him in heaven. May the assurance of our salvation, which comes in the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus, keep us in the faith our whole life long that we may never lose heart in the love that our Father in heaven has for us because of His Son. 

Peace be with you. May the devil be silenced, the world be hushed, and the Old Adam drowned anew that you may hear only the peaceful voice of your Savior Jesus who says, "I love you. I forgive you. I claim you as My own forever," Amen.

Jesus' Sheepdog