A lot of things can make me mad.

Disrespect, ignorance, injustice. Here's another one that I as Christian definitely feel, but often do not voice:

God. Many times, I have found myself mad at God.

And this is not just a temporary, emotional anger. I have felt enduring resentment toward Him. I look at the pain and injustice in my life and the world, and I feel nothing short of indignant anger towards the One who is in charge of it all. That is what I believe. I believe that God made and governs this world, and the people in it. I believe that He loves each one of us furiously and intentionally. (If you do not believe this to be true, God does not love you any less.)

So imagine my frustration when something horrible happens. My dad gets sick. Cancer shows up in the family. A relationship crashes and burns. And I know that these things happen and God lets them. I know that He is there, watching His plan unfold, and He does nothing to stop these things. If it's just one thing, one test of my faith, I can handle that. But more often than not, I feel like Job. You know, Job, the man who God invites Satan to tempt and torture (I'm sure he appreciated that). Job lost everything. Death, disease, and failure were his life. It just seemed to be one thing after the other.

How often do we feel this way? Angry and betrayed by God because He allows tragedy after tragedy to reap havoc in our lives. Frustrated because He promises to be there, yet we struggle with the same sins and loneliness every day.

The way I see it, God is a passionate, authentic God. He shows His emotions (for lack of better word) throughout the Bible unrestrained and freely. I believe that because I have a relationship with a God who made me in His image, He wants me to also express my emotions freely, openly. It is not a sin to be angry. It is not a sin to be hurt. It is not a sin to cry out to God and ask Him why. Ask Him all of the questions that are burdened on your heart. I believe and know it to be true that God pushes us to our limits to push us closer into His arms, not away from Him.

Here, in Job 1, we see a model of how to react when we are angry with God:

At this, Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worship.

And said: "Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked I will depart. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; may the name of the LORD be praised."

In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing.

The anger and hurt I feel when life is just painful and unfair is not insignificant or a sign of lack of faith. It is the human response to the hardships of life. But when we take that anger and express it to God, not blaming Him for it but giving it to Him, we can make even the worst circumstance a moment of worship, growth, and glory.

God is so good. God is so loving. God is so worth it. May we never forget it.