Anger will tell you that you have no reason to praise God because of the hard times you are facing. It will tell you that you have no reason to praise God because of the mess you have found yourself in. It will tell you that God doesn’t care, if you let it. Anger is not a sin, but it can lead to sin when we allow it to pry our trust away from God. When you get angry, you have an opportunity. You have an opportunity for development and for intimacy. What on earth are you talking about? Here is what I mean. We were created to worship God, to praise Him. The Bible says we were created for His good pleasure. The very being that is God deserves praise no matter what. He deserves it. His existence constitutes one who is deserving of your and my praise. We can praise Him when times are good, but most of the time that means we are praising Him because times are good.
Praise Him During the Bad Times
When times are bad, and I mean really bad – when your life is falling apart and anger has begun to take over, praise God. What? Praise God. Praise God for who He is. Praise God for who He is. I’ll say it once more. Praise God for who He is. He deserves it. When we take the time, even in our anger, to praise God and say, “God, You are worthy of adoration simply because of who You are,” then we have truly allowed God into the privacy of our lives. We have given God the sign that we desire intimacy with Him. This takes trust, but it also builds trust, because we have to lay it all down and believe that God truly is who He says He is and that He really does deserve our praise at all times.
When you give your anger to God, He transforms it into passion for His Kingdom. He transforms the heart that you allow Him to become a part of. To truly know someone, you have to know that person on intimate terms. When we give God our worst state, He reminds us of His worst state. He reminds us of the day when Jesus hung on the cross for you and me. His closeness reminds us of His deep and unending love for us. This love turns anger into a Godly passion. It transforms helplessness into wholeness. It fills empty hearts. It fixes our messed up lives and our messed up attitudes, and it redeems that which has been lost.
Patience is Something You Have to Learn
Patience isn’t something we were born into. It is something we have to learn. Learning to be patient means learning to change you. It means allowing God to change who you are. If God says, not today, our response should be “Thank you, Lord” and not “When, Lord?” When you are stuck in a rut, and there seems to be no way out, adopting this attitude may seem impossible. But let me remind you of an individual that God used for great and mighty things who at one point in his life seemed to be heading nowhere. I’m talking about King David. King David wasn’t always a king. At one point in time, he was the one hanging out in the fields all day watching sheep. What you must understand is that David was not a sheepherder. David was a king. But before he could realize his kingship, he first had to herd some sheep. God is going to do something great in your life, if you let Him. If you stop focusing on the situation you are in, and begin to focus on Him, He will bring you to the place He has already prepared for you.
Growing Close to God
David spent a good deal of time out in the fields with no one to keep him company but a bunch of sheep. It may seem like you are spending a lot of time hanging around sheep, but let me tell you, when God begins to do what He is going to do, you are going to thank Him for the time you got to spend with the sheep. You might ask what are you talking about? What I mean is this: when David was out there with the sheep, he was also out there with God. Listen to what God thinks about David in 1 Samuel 13:14. Samuel says, “…the Lord has sought out a man after his own heart and appointed him ruler of his people…” God knew David. David knew God. David and God knew each other. David didn’t pretend to know God so that he would feel good about himself or so that someone else would think better of him. David knew God. David knew God because he sought after God’s heart. Remember I said patience is not something we are born into. It is also something we cannot learn on our own, but when we begin to grow close to God, He will begin to change our hearts. He will give us the patience we need.
If God has dropped you out in the field with the sheep, then He is saying, seek Me. He is saying, seek Me and find Me.