In His Image

I never thought that it was alright to be angry at God. Somewhere in the messages of my upbringing, church culture, Christian education, etc. I got the impression that being angry at God meant that you didn't fully trust God and to express this was sinful or maybe was too much for God. I understand that lack of trust is a problem. I also understand that God allows for due process such as the grieving process, the growth process and the frustration process. If God loves us entirely, than He even loves us when we are angry; even when we are angry with Him. Living in that place of anger for a long time is not a healthy place to be but allowing yourself to go there, like visiting a little, secluded cabin in the woods, for a time, is not only acceptable, it is acknowledging that we were created in God's own image.

In the books of Jeremiah and Lamentations, we see a picture of God, in all of His glory, frustration, anger and hurt. The Israelites had forgotten all that God had done for them. In short, they had forgotten their history which was the history of God's faithfulness to their people. They had, instead, decided that making their own little gods out of wood and rock and clay better suited their worship style and taste. God, in His amazing love, sends Jeremiah to warn the Israelites of where they are headed, not only personally, but in relationship with God. We see in Jeremiah and Lamentations that God gives the people numerous chances to repent and warns them that if they continue to forget God, God will forget them and allow them to be defeated. This is exactly what happens and in their utter despair, the Israelites become completely inhumane. They begin to starve and so choose to kill their own children for food. Old and young alike are killed in the streets. Priests and prophets are murdered in the Temple. Jeremiah is sickened by what he sees and cries out to God in anguish.

The interesting thing is that many of the sentiments that Jeremiah portrays are the same sentiments that God has in relation to His feelings of betrayal by His own people. God is angry and hurt and sad. If these are His feelings, and we believe that we are made in the image of God, then why would God be unable to handle our same feelings, whether towards Him or towards another situation or person. In a sense, to deny those feelings would be to deny the very imprinted image of God on our physical bodies, our feelings being part of our human creation.

I believe in the God who was saddened when His people walked away. I believe that He is saddened when I do the same in my life. I believe also in the Christ who, by His Spirit, helps me to walk through the processes of anger, doubt, mistrust and fear with complete grace. That is the grace that says, "Jaime, I know you are angry with me but ... 'Come now and let us reason together'(Isaiah 1:18)". The very God who made me and understands me best, the very God in whose image I was made, the very God who created the trees that lift my spirits when they glow with Autumn colors and the evening sky with it's inspiring lights, invites me to reason with Him because He has felt those very same things and can therefore walk me through those feelings. Praise be to the God of all things, the author and perfecter of my life and faith!