P Is For The Perplexing Anger Of God

“Anger is the fluid that love bleeds when it gets cut.”

~ C.S. Lewis

Anger. Wrath. Vengeance. Judgment. Fury.

What do we do with God’s darkest moods?

Do we avoid the Bible’s offending verses? After all, a God with deep passions is embarrassing to indifferent humanity.

Or maybe we see his anger as divine permission to luxuriate in our own cranky moods.

Some of us want nothing to do with the wrath of God and have left him for a gentler version of our making. An invented god is less confusing, but useless in the face of evil.

Consider a God incapable of anger and shudder as the predators have their way. The problem isn’t anger, it’s blindness to what the focus of fury should be.

Anger is uncomfortable. So we douse it with donuts, drink and denial. We defer it and dismiss it, to the detriment of our souls. Like live coals placed in our hands, without a safe receptacle fury will burn us.

The safe receptacle is God. On the cross, all the violence the world had hoarded was poured out on his beloved Son. Christ’s victory means this: Our darkest desires, most vengeful thoughts, every memory of  bitterness and betrayal can be safely entrusted to his care. In exchange for our fury, we are given the power to “overcome evil with good.” (Romans 12: 21)

Necessary Anger

Why is God’s anger necessary? Evil is an alien intruder within God’s good Creation. But as Solzhenitsyn reminds us, “The battle line between good and evil runs through the heart of every man.” Our every unkind word, selfish action, and unholy thought cruelly slashes God’s  beautiful design. We are defacers and abusers–none of us excepted. So God does what is necessary to pry our bloody fingers from evil’s cunning blade.

And wipes them clean with his tears.

God’s righteous anger is the perplexing evidence of true love.

Have you been confused by God’s anger?