Psalm 30:5
For his anger lasts only a moment, but his favor lasts a lifetime; weeping may remain for a night, but rejoicing comes in the morning.
It is easy to think that God never gets angry with us. All Christians have experienced the loving, compassionate, grace-filled God. That is the one that touched us the day we came to His altar to seek forgiveness for all our shortcomings. And it is the God we encounter often because of the sin that continues to plague our lives. Because of the compassion we have received, or because we simply don’t want to think of God in this particular light, we forget that God does in fact get angry with us!
That anger comes when we, as His people, fail to do His will. When we fail to love, fail to serve those in need, when we become arrogant or judgmental, when we choose to live outside His will for us; the list of things that angers God goes on and on. And every one of us at some point angers God!
I remember my 5th grade teacher being extremely angry at something I had done to another boy in class. At the time she pulled me aside and said, “I don’t like you very much today. I still love you, but I am angry and what you did.” Because I cared deeply for this teacher, her words cut deep. It was a dark time as I worked to repair and restore that relationship.
When we fall short, God’s anger at us plunges us into darkness. It is not that God has forsaken us, given up on us, or discontinued His love for us. The darkness is the realization that we have failed God, and failed to please Him.
But the Good News is God loves us and nothing can separate us from that love. Each day is a new day. And even though we will go through periods of darkness because of our own actions, God will always be there to guide us back to the promised land of forgiveness and hope in Him!