Prophetic Word – What’s Wrong?….Nothing.

This prophetic word is titled What’s Wrong?….Nothing.  It is about being Angry with God.  Anger is an emotion.  That means that you don’t need any kind of “biblical justification” to be angry.  So, for those of you who believe you can’t be angry with God, you are probably the one most in danger of not recognizing that you have this problem.

It can spring up out of nowhere as well as you can have it there for years, well hidden.

I’m going to show you how you can identify it and what to do to get back into a place of peace and communion with God.

Who is this word for?  Everyone.  With the way things are going in our world now, I’m making sure you know this just you case you find yourself in this position and you don’t know how to get out of it.

---

If you are a “hot head” meaning that you fly off the handle really easily or you blow up on people quickly, it is easy to spot the anger.  What I’ve noticed with “church folks” is that most of them with anger issues are not like that.  It is hidden under a lot of religious acts and you can hardly see it.

I have been angry with God in the past.  I remember clearly two occasions when this happened and I am going to tell you how it happened and what I did to get out of it.  Understanding what it looks like when you’re angry will help you to get out of it quickly.

What it looks like when you’re angry with God

1. You’re stuck.

I’m not saying that everyone that is stuck is angry with God but if you can’t seem to figure out why you are not moving forward, or whatever you try is not working out, this could be it.  Some people don’t even realize that their “stuckness” is due to the anger.  Have you ever seen that couple and the husband says “What’s wrong?” and she responds “Nothing”.  When both parties know that this is not true.

We do the same thing to God when we are angry.  We pretend like it’s not there and sweep it under the rug.  Well, much like that couple, that relationship has officially been put on hold “stuck” until this issue has been resolved.  There is little to no growth in your relationship with the Lord until you resolve this.

2. Low Key Apathy.

Why low key?  Those who are like this  may never say it but there are some actions there that will scream it. Because things are not going the way they want it to, and they’re angry about it, when others approach them  who are struggling, or having to endure some form of suffering, they’re apathetic.

Apathetic – showing or feeling no interest, enthusiasm or concern.

They never actually say it, but internally they justify the apathy, that’s why it’s low key.

It’s looks like this…Can you pray for me, I’m struggling financially….well, aren’t we all?  Join the club.  A total disconnection from someone else’s pain because of their own.

You see a celebrity express that they struggle with their weight…must be nice to have a trainer and a chef, if I had that I would be in shape, you’re lazy and have no excuse. As if celebrities are not human and can’t have struggles too.

Cold. Because they believe since they’re going through it, so should everyone else.

They only give empathy where they feel it is deserved.  If they feel you don’t deserve the empathy, you’re not getting any.  Selective empathy.

They find it hard to pray for others that they deem to have more than they do.  Why?  Cause you don’t deserve that.  They need it more than you.  You need to pray for them.

When you are angry, you will withhold because you don’t think you should give until God gives you what you deserve.  You will find it hard to go on a fast.  Why?  Because now you’re giving up food?  No.  Why give up more?  You’re already suffering. You deserve to eat. Somewhere in there, they justify why they can’t do it. All of that is the anger speaking. So you are going to hold back.  And will never fully follow through on the instructions of the Lord because you’re angry.

The Bible says in the last days the love of many will grow cold, I believe this is because as we begin to go through rough times and we are waiting on God to come and save us, if He doesn’t show up when and how we want Him to, we get angry and then apathy sets in.

If someone comes to you and shares something and you see that they are hurt, in pain or struggling, you don’t need to put it on a scale next to your pain and to determine if they need your empathy.  No, if it pains them, that is enough for you to pray for them or be kind to them about it,

3.  God is silent.

Until you address the anger with God, you remain stuck.  Stuck means you can’t even hear God anymore.  Things are not clear.  He may speak to you about some things but the things related to your own progress…MUTE.  No new revelation on anything related to what you’re waiting for..

How do you become angry with God?

Sigh.  Things didn’t work out the way you hoped.  You were being obedient, or not, and you thought things would go in a certain direction and they didn’t.  Because you have no one to blame or a place to direct your anger, you’re angry with God. Most of the time people don’t even know it.

Please understand that the longer you take to acknowledge it, you will be stuck.

I would say all atheists are angry at God.  Why did God allow this?  Why did God cause that?  So many questions with no answers.  Because the world isn’t expressing itself in the way they think it should, if there was a God, then they say He doesn’t exist.

Hence, the anger.  The anger enters the same for the Christians, It didn’t work out the way you thought it should.  You’re waiting way too long and now you’re mad about it.

How do you get out of it?

1. Acknowledge it.

You come out of denial.  You just have to acknowledge it.

What does this look like?  Go find a place where you can be alone open your mouth and talk to God.  You need to do this aloud.   You need to hear yourself say it.

I have found that some of the dreams I can’t interpret, the interpretation comes to me when I hear myself repeating the dream out loud.  There’s something about verbalizing a thing.  Again, this is about your VOICE.

You need to hear yourself say the ugly thing.  The thing you would never admit to anyone else.  You need to hear yourself tell God why you are so mad.  Going back as far as you can go.  Say it.  Tell Him why you are angry, what went wrong, how you really feel about how things are going.  Say it.  All of it.  Say everything.  It may go back so far you will be astonished how long you’ve been angry.

Be as specific as you can because in doing this you will find the root to the issue.

When you hear yourself say the thing you never thought you would ever say, this becomes the place where God can step in and give you some answers.  He may answer right then as well as He may not, but I am telling you, HE WILL ANSWER YOU.  Why?  Because He wants you to get unstuck.  You are going to come across the answer some way some how.  And you’ll feel so light afterwards like a huge burden has been lifted.  You can start fresh.

I remember the first time I was angry with God and I was talking to Him one day and I heard myself say it.  You see, the more obedient we are, the more we walk in a manner that we believe is pleasing to God, we tend to think that certain things will never happen to us.  But they do.

Well, I tithe so I will never go broke…oh, really?

Well, I take care of my body, eat well, I take communion, I will never get a terminal illness…oh, really?

Well, I’m saved my husband is saved and we’re both in ministry so we’ll never get a divorce….oh, really?

Well, my church will be a success because I started this under the instructions of the Lord…oh, really?

Yeah.  These are the things we tell ourselves and when it doesn’t work out we get angry.  Because why wouldn’t it work out?  Well, if God said it then it will happen, right??  Umm Kinda?

Always remember that when you read the Bible, you have to also LIVE the Bible.  If you read the Bible you realize that all those great men and women of God went through hell before they got to where God told them they would be.

Each story in the Bible represents a part or season of our lives.  The good and the bad.  It’s easy to see ourselves as Joseph, but have you ever seen yourself as Joseph’s brothers?  We all want to be David but have you ever seen yourself as Saul?  Ever been Samson for a season in your life?

Naw…you’re way too good to be the bad guy right?  WRONG!  All the stories are there to reveal parts of us that needs to be fixed.

I may read a cookbook cover to cover but that doesn’t make me a chef! … Until I make the recipe!

You read the Bible, now you have to live the Bible.  That means that things are not going to work out the way you hoped they would all the time.

Good people suffer too.  It rains on the just and the unjust.

I’m about to shock you….sometimes God will lead you INTO the pit!  You, walking into obedience, walked straight up into a pit.  Meanwhile, you’re thinking, this is not supposed to happen?!  I followed all the instructions, why am I here??!!

Your greatest lessons are going to come from some of your hardest seasons.

Every time you are up for an upgrade in the spirit, your next level – a promotion – get ready because something is about to happen that won’t be so pleasant.  As long as you get through that thing how God knows you can, you will be fine.  But if you don’t, you will be stuck in that pit.

It is not going to work out like you think it will work out all the time.

Who led Jesus into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil???  (Matthew 4:1) Right before His ministry began.

Who gave the devil permission to mess with Job’s life???  (Job 1:8) Right before he got a double portion.

Imagine David’s conversation “God, first you anoint me to be king, which I never asked you to do, then you send me to go play a harp, and I obeyed and what do I get for my obedience? A mad man that tries to kill me!!! What did I do to deserve this??”

Therefore, don’t assume because you’re going through hell now that you did something wrong.  You may just be up for a promotion right now. BUT, what you don’t want to do is get angry with God, close off your ability to HEAR God and then find yourself stuck in the pit.

Once you acknowledge it, God will tell you what’s going on…eventually…and you can move forward.

Now, once you get clarity from God, you can move forward in the direction where God is sending you.

Does Jesus have a right to be mad at God, the Holy Spirit for sending Him into the wilderness?  No.

Does Job have a right to be mad at God?  No.

God does not owe you an apology for doing what He does.

God is God.  God is NEVER wrong…that’s why He’s God. You are a human. You have emotions.  While it is OK for you feel those emotions, it doesn’t mean you are right.  It just means you are human. You are not God.  God is never wrong.

All the Champions in the Bible got there by going through similar things as what you are enduring now.  These seasons are there so that He can prune us.  It brings those ugly things within us to the surface so that we can acknowledge them, repent for them, and move forward.

He’s not going to give you a test you cannot pass.  You need to decide if you want to get out of that pit or not.  If you want to be angry a little while longer, go ahead.  But when you’re ready to get out of there and finally hear what God has to say, you know exactly what you need to do.  Acknowledge it.

2. Then you need to repent.

For pride.  Because the truth is that the root of the anger is that you think you know better than God.  You’re mad because He did it the way He did it…and not the way you thought He should’ve done it.  That is pride.

For idolatry.  Because the fact that you believe you know better means you’re usurping God’s position.  You’ve put yourself as an idol.  Your opinion is an idol.

When you are talking to God stay away from the extremes

One extreme is the person that believes they could never talk to God about this because He’s this far off God that will strike them dead so they wouldn’t dare say this to Him.  This is an extreme and a religious kind of thinking.

If you say that you are in a relationship with God, that means you can have conversations and you can be open and truthful with Him.  There is no topic off limits.  You’re in a relationship.

The other extreme is the person that believes that they are a “friend of God” and therefore the familiarity breeds contempt.  They forget that they are talking to God and move into disrespect, dishonor and familiarity.

As my mom used to say to me when I was a little girl “you and me is not size”.  Meaning, we are not the same size…you are a child and I am your mother so you can’t talk to me any ole way!

He doesn’t owe you an explanation, neither does He owe you an apology, so when He chooses to respond to you, be very glad that He did.  He. Owes. You. Nothing.

If you know you tend to be this way when you become too friendly with people, watch that when you are talking to God….because You and God is not size!  If you struggle with this, go ahead and read Job 40 – 41 so you can prepare yourself before you open your mouth.

 

---

Let’s go into the scriptures and I’ll show you possibly one of the angriest persons in the Bible…

Jonah.

You know the story, God told Jonah to go to Nineveh to tell the people to repent.  What does he do?  Runs in the opposite direction. Why would he want them to repent and be saved?  Jonah was using his selective empathy to determine if they should be forgiven or not.

Low. Key. Apathy.

He never said he wouldn’t go, he just didn’t go.  The ACTIONS.

Jonah 1:17

¹⁷ And the Lord appointed a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.

Stuck.

Ain’t going nowhere.  What now?

 

Jonah 2

2 Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the belly of the fish,² saying,

¹⁰ And the Lord spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah out upon the dry land.

 

Not gonna lie, I cried reading this.  Reading him go through his process.  Coming to a place of repentance for his pride and idolatry and then seeing God restore him, pulling him out of the pit.

I completely understand why he was angry.  Nineveh was the capital city of Assyria so whenever you read about the Assyrians in the Bible, this was the same people.  They were not good people and the Jews had suffered a lot at their hands. So, I get why he was angry but this still gives him no right to tell God what to do.

Did God then decide, “ok, since this upset you so much, you can do it your way?” No.  He’s God, He is going to do exactly what He said.  We are the ones that have to line up with Him, He’s not lining up to us.

He gives the SAME INSTRUCTIONS to Jonah and Jonah has to follow through.  And, just like God said, the people of Nineveh were saved.

Well, we generally end the story here BUT the biggest lesson for those who struggle with anger comes after God turns His anger from Nineveh.

 

Jonah 4

But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was angry. ² And he prayed to the Lord and said, “O Lord, is not this what I said when I was yet in my country? That is why I made haste to flee to Tarshish; for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from disaster. ³ Therefore now, O Lord, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.” ⁴ And the Lord said, “Do you do well to be angry?”

 

The NLT version says it like this… The LORD replied, “Is it right for you to be angry about this?”

Wow!  Imagine hating someone so badly that you would rather die than see them prosper?  That is a very dangerous place to be.  Now you see why God had to put him through this to show him what was in his heart.  Maybe he didn’t realize he was this hateful.  The ugliness had to come to the surface.

Nothing like when you hear yourself say it out loud!!!  And your heart is revealed.  Oh my!  Did he repent?  Let’s see what he does next…

⁵ Jonah went out of the city and sat to the east of the city and made a booth for himself there. He sat under it in the shade, till he should see what would become of the city.

Does he then say to the Lord, “OK God what do you have for me, let me move on from this”. NOPE!  HE SAT THERE WAITING FOR THEIR DOWNFALL.

He was STILL WAITING ON GOD TO JUDGE THEM!!

He set up camp waiting for God to judge them so he can say “See God, they’re evil and they deserve your judgement”. How do I know this?  He sits to the east of the city… in the Bible the judgment usually comes on the east wind.  He positioned himself to the east so he can see the judgement approaching!

I’m going to tell you this right now, if you feel like you’ve been wronged and you’re sitting around waiting for God to judge these people….there’s a high possibility you won’t ever see it happen.

Why?  Because you are the one God is dealing with, not them. The fact that you are willing to invest your time and energy in waiting for them to fall says more about you than it does about them.  It’s time to Move on.

Pick up the encampment you have set up at the EAST gate and GO.  God is not pleased.

 ⁶ Now the Lord God appointed a plant and made it come up over Jonah, that it might be a shade over his head, to save him from his discomfort. So Jonah was exceedingly glad because of the plant. ⁷ But when dawn came up the next day, God appointed a worm that attacked the plant, so that it withered.

In the midst of this, God is still extending GRACE to Jonah to give him an opportunity to REPENT. Instead of repenting and realizing that he was wrong for what he was doing he looked at this period of grace as God’s APPROVAL for his actions.  WRONG.

He read it wrong…He’s too angry to realize that he’s not getting the message clearly.  And, because he can’t hear it clearly what does God do, send him a stronger message….a devouring spirit. A worm to eat the plant!!!  Caterpillar, cankerworm, incoming.

Yep, God took back the grace.

The Bible says don’t let the sun go down on your anger.  He was suppose to deal with that anger right away, but he made the sun go down and when it came up, God said OK, I’ve given you enough to time to stop being angry I’m going to start taking away the blessings I gave you.

Then another day passes…

⁸ And as the sun grew hot, God arranged for a scorching east wind to blow on Jonah. The sun beat down on his head until he grew faint and wished to die. “Death is certainly better than living like this!” he exclaimed.

⁹ Then God said to Jonah, “Is it right for you to be angry because the plant died?”

“Yes,” Jonah retorted, “even angry enough to die!”

¹⁰ Then the Lord said, “You feel sorry about the plant, though you did nothing to put it there. It came quickly and died quickly. ¹¹ But Nineveh has more than 120,000 people living in spiritual darkness, not to mention all the animals. Shouldn’t I feel sorry for such a great city?”

There he is waiting for the east wind to carry judgment for the Ninevites and instead it carried his own judgement.

Then he got angry that the plant died.  So angry that he said he’ll be angry all the way until his death.  In the end, is he really angry at the people of Nineveh?  No.  He’s angry at God for choosing to have mercy on a group of people that he believed should die.

Sometimes some of the people you’re angry at are doing what God told them to do.  So then you are not angry at them, you are angry at God.  You just don’t realize it yet.

Now, let’s see what happens in Jonah 5, how he gets out of this…

Ummm, there is no Jonah 5.  This is how the book ends. The prophet gets a word from God, get’s swallowed by a whale because of his disobedience, repents and goes to do the job, doesn’t get rewarded for the job because he’s angry at God and refuses to repent.  He said he wanted to die.  The end.  He never got out of it.

I’m wondering how differently the story would end if Jonah just acknowledged to God that he was angry at God.  He never said, God I’m angry at you.  He kept displacing the anger, blaming everything and everyone else.  Perhaps if he just said God I’m angry at you, help me to understand why it needed to be like this?

The first time I was angry at God and I verbalized it, I was looking at the situation in one light and God showed it to me in another way and then I realized that my perception was OFF.  Remember, He’s never wrong.  If anyone got it wrong, it’s me!

I realized then that things were not going to work out the way I thought because how I was looking at it was wrong.  It took a few weeks for the reason to manifest and I saw it clearly.  I was able to move on from that.

The second time, I thought I was being punished by God and I was angry about it because I didn’t think I did anything to deserve punishment.  The Lord showed me that He was not punishing me and why things happened the way they did.  He told me this instantly so I didn’t have to wait to hear the response.

The faster you learn how to deal with this emotion, the quicker the answer comes.

Is God going to apologize for that happening to me? No.  Because I learnt a lot through both experiences.

I can’t go back and change any of it!  It happened and that is that.  So, my only option is to move forward.  You cannot put spilt milk back into a box, all you can do is move forward.

But at least you move forward without the anger.

And, then you can hear clearly.  Nothing standing in the way.

Please don’t end like Jonah.  If you are angry, deal with it.

Why would God put a story like this in the Bible?  To tell us that repentance works!!!

There’s nothing too bad that you’ve ever done that He won’t forgive.  And when you choose to not repent, even if you are God’s chosen, you’re still under God’s judgement.

He can save the worse person in the world and if this story didn’t exist, then when we do things that we see as “the worse thing in the world” we’ll never believe that He can forgive it.

So, that’s why this story.

There’s nothing He won’t forgive when we repent.  It doesn’t matter how long we have been stuck there.  This story is in the Bible so that we also know that it is futile to sit there and wait for our enemies to be punished.

Vengeance is mine says the Lord, I will repay.  And we need to leave it at that.  We need to move on and let God be God.  We do not need to keep track of who is getting punished and who is not!  He says He’s slow to anger and abounding in love because He doesn’t want anyone to perish. Therefore, setting up an encampment at the east gate to see what’s coming for them may be unfruitful for you.  You could be waiting for a loooooooooong time! I read somewhere that Nineveh was not destroyed until 138 +/- years after Jonah’s message. Do you really have that much time to waste?  No.

And then the other message from this story is for those of us who are ministers of God, the prophetic voices…how can you ever be the voice of God when all you want to do is judge people?  How can you be the voice of God when you delight in destruction?  If you look at the prophets in the Bible, they will speak of judgement through warnings but there is always restoration.  They desire to see the repentance because they know that is when disaster gets averted. They understand that God’s ultimate goal is to restore people. Imagine having a prophet and when you mess up with them all they do is prophesy your destruction and wait to see you judged?  I would never want to be around someone like this. R.U.N.

Now that you know what this anger can do, spend some time with God.  Acknowledge it, repent for it and wait for God to give you clear instructions.  If He chooses to tell you why things happened the way they did, that’s good as it may help you.  But if He chooses not to, that’s good too. Because remember, He is God and you are not.  And, He’s not going to apologize for it.

Blessings!