5 Steps to Take When You Feel Angry With God
I recently went to lunch with a friend I hadn’t seen in several years. As we caught up on life, our conversation turned to God. Her face immediately grew cold as she expressed, “God and I aren’t on good terms right now.” It was clear she was angry with God.
“Do you want to talk about it?” I gently asked.
“Well, after everything that happened last year, I’m not sure I want to follow a God who would allow such terrible things,” she admitted.
In the previous year, she’d endured some painful losses. I listened as she shared her story.
I also told her about a time in my life when I turned away from God because I blamed him for a dream that didn’t work out for me.
When We Feel Angry With God
“Those were dark years,” I admitted. “And when I returned to God, he lifted me out of the darkness and showed me that he had been faithful to me even when I was faithless to him. I understand why you feel the way you do. But God still loves you. He’ll be there if you return to him.”
We all face difficult times when our faith is tested. During these times, it can be tempting to blame God for allowing distress and trouble in our lives. In our humanness, it’s tempting to turn away from God.
Sadly, when we turn away from God with offended hearts, we are also turning away from the source of all hope and healing. One of the greatest hindrances to peace is the obstacle of an offended heart.
Blaming God for Trouble
Jesus spoke into this struggle when John the Baptist was in prison. John had been a faithful follower of Jesus—the forerunner proclaiming that Jesus was the Messiah. After being imprisoned by Herod, John sent his disciples to ask Jesus whether he was the Messiah.
We don’t know exactly what was going through John’s mind, but it’s quite possible he was facing the temptation to take offense at Jesus. Imprisoned for proclaiming the good news of Jesus’ coming, perhaps he wrestled with unanswered questions.
No matter what hardship you’re facing today—and no matter what comes your way in the future—will you make a commitment not to blame Jesus for your troubles?
Keep your heart soft. Grieve your painful losses. Share your anger and confusion with God and others. But ask God to help you avoid offense. An offended heart quickly becomes a hard heart, and a hard heart will hinder your healing.
An offended heart quickly becomes a hard heart, and a hard heart will hinder your healing. #faith #healing #blamingGod Share on X
Let’s break this into several practical ways to overcome anger toward God.
What to Do When You Feel Angry With God
1. Process your emotions with God.
When we’re honest, most of us have felt angry with God at times. The greatest mistake we make during these times is turning away from God in anger instead of turning toward him.
God knows us better than we know ourselves. He invites us to process our emotions with him. He has insights into our feelings and can help us unpack and unburden even the heaviest emotions.
When you feel angry with God, create space to work through these feelings with him daily until the anger begins to subside. This is rarely a quick and easy process. It can take years. Nevertheless, when we persist in prayer, we continue to turn toward the only One who is capable of healing us.
2. Process your emotions with someone you can trust.
God created us to carry one another’s burdens. One of the best ways to work through difficult emotions is by processing them aloud with others.
Close friends and therapists are God’s vessels of healing. We can overcome anger toward God by working through it verbally with other people who will listen, speak truth to us, support us, and pray for us.
3. Ask God to help you trust him.
Our anger with God often emerges when we don’t trust him with difficult circumstances. When we feel angry with God, we can begin healing by asking him to help us grow in trust.
4. Repent of the spirit of offense.
Repentance is the act of turning away from sin and turning toward God. We can repent of holding onto the spirit of offense by confessing it to God, asking him to align our hearts with his heart, and turning away from offense.
When anger toward God lingers, we are susceptible to holding onto a spirit of offense. Rather than embracing offense toward God, we resist this spirit altogether, refusing to even entertain the idea of clinging to offense long-term.
5. Continue to live in the light with God and others.
When angry feelings arise, we heal by bringing these feelings into the light with God and others. We pray about our feelings and talk through them. In this way, we don’t get stuck in anger and resentment toward God.
Reflect on Feeling Angry With God
Ask God to show you if you have blamed him for any difficulty—past or present. If so, confess this attitude, turn away from it, and turn toward the forgiving love of God. Ask him to help you trust him. What is he showing you?
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If this post on feeling angry with God encouraged you, I invite you to explore our library of family devotionals and free eBooks below. May you keep a soft heart as you turn to the only One who heals.
Calling All Parents and Grandparents!
As the parent of two sons and a daughter, I have a heart for helping parents develop deeper relationships with their children and with God. Our kids, ages 7, 12, and 16, share this vision. They have helped me write three family devotionals for parents or older relatives to read with the children and teens they love. I also recently released a teen devotional called Anchored, designed to help teens learn key biblical narratives and apply them to their lives. You can find these books here or read more below. 
Mother-Daughter Devotionals by a Mom and Daughter
Girl to Girl: 60 Mother-Daughter Devotions for a Closer Relationship and Deeper Faith is written for girls ages 7-12. It includes 60 devotions with Scripture, conversation starters, and a shared journaling section for moms and daughters after each devotion. I wrote this book with the help of our daughter, Bekah, when she was eleven. Find this one-of-a-kind shared devotional here.
Heart to Heart: A Mother-Daughter Devotional With 50 Devotions for Teen Girls is for teenage girls ages 13-20. It includes 50 devotions, each with a shared journaling section to help moms and daughters connect through writing. This is a great book for moms who want to communicate about awkward topics—like dating, sexuality, peer pressure, and more—but don’t know where to start. Bekah and I will help you right here.
Devotions for Boys by Boys
God’s Warrior: Devotions for Boys Who Want to Grow in Courage and Strength helps young boys, ages 5-13, learn what it means to trust God and become strong warriors for his kingdom. Now, more than ever, our world needs men who are willing to boldly carry God’s love into the world. I wrote this boys’ devotional book with our two young sons, Aiden and Caleb, ages six and eleven! You’ll enjoy their honesty as we teach boys how to be strong warriors for the Lord. Find this life-changing devotional book here.
These Books Are Free on Kindle Unlimited: God Wants to Heal, Restore, and Refresh You
God wants to work in your life to accomplish what you’ve been unable to do through willpower alone. He also wants to help you establish a rhythm of meeting with him daily as you trust him with the hard parts of your life. Click here to explore two books that will guide you: Be Still and Trust and Lean Into Grace. They are free on the Kindle Unlimited program and for sale in print.
Download Your Free Devotional Here
Set Free: Let God Do What You Cannot explores ten realms in which most of us need God to work in our lives and bring deliverance. We’ll talk about finding freedom from fear, worry, insecurity, bad habits, emotional pain, and more. This short online devotional will bless you as you let God accomplish what you’ve been unable to achieve through willpower. Get your download for free with promo code GRACE or for a donation of 3.99 here. Thank you. This small gift helps keep this ministry running.
I also offer a library of free online devotional eBooks for free. I invite you to explore the collection right here!
