"In a burst of anger I turned my face away for a little while.  But with everlasting love I will have compassion on you,” says the LORD, your Redeemer.

Isaiah 54:8

When I was a young man, verses like this one disturbed me. I just couldn’t accept the notion that God could be angry. For me, anger seemed like the antithesis of love. How could a loving God turn away his face in a burst of anger?

Over the years, I have come to peace with the biblical picture of an angry God. I realize that anger is sometimes an appropriate emotion. It is right, for example, to be angry when a mob beats an innocent person because of his race, or when women are sold into slavery because they Christians. God’s anger is a pure, righteous response to human sin.

Moreover, I have begun to understand the peculiar flavor of my own personal experiences of anger. I can see now how much my fear of God’s anger had to do with my emotional response to my human father’s anger, which was very scary to me. Knowing how I respond to anger in a father figure, including my Heavenly Father, helps me to accept the biblical picture of God without fear.

Finally, I can now see how anger is not inconsistent with deep, lasting love. As a father, I know how angry I can be with my children. Yet this anger in no way diminishes my love for them. And, in a way, it is an extension of that love. I want what’s best for my children. When they do that which harms them, I feel both compassion and anger. Thus, I can begin to grasp how God could be angry with his people “for a little while,” when, in fact, his love is everlasting and his compassion never fades.

QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION: How do you respond to the biblical picture of God’s anger? How do you reconcile the love of God with his wrath?

PRAYER: Gracious Lord, you know how much I have wrestled with the idea that you can be angry. For so long, it seemed as if your wrath was inconsistent with your love. So I thank you for the ways you have helped me to grow in my understanding. Thank you for helping me to unravel my own personal experiences of anger. Thank you for allow me to begin to see how love and anger aren’t always in conflict.

Most of all, thank you for the fact that your anger comes as a burst, while your love is everlasting. Knowing that you love me gives me the confidence to see you in the fullness of your revelation. Amen.