Atheists are always angry at the God they don't believe in. An atheist's unbelief is his accusation, and his creeds are repeated daily among his friends through his lack of devotion, social media posts, music, movies, and bumper stickers. The atheist is furious with God, but he lacks the courage or faith to deal with his anger in a face-to-face conflict with God. The atheist does not lack faith in God; he lacks confidence in the strength of his wrath. The atheist knows that his argument against God will not stand, and so he presents it to men but never to God.
Christians, on the other hand, are often afraid of their anger and lack faith in God’s ability or willingness to receive it. Christians often pretend that their anger does not exist. We are anger atheists. We know that we are not supposed to be angry at God, so we never acknowledge the anger that is there for fear of judgment. This behavior should also be called a lack of faith. “And whatever is not from faith is sin.” Romans 14:23 NASB
Abraham, the father of our faith, was not afraid to shoot straight with God. Therefore, neither should we be afraid.
In Genesis 14, after winning a war with some allied kings, Abram (whose name later changed to Abraham) refused to receive any of the plunder of war so that the allied kings could never say they made Abram rich. Abram trusted in the blessing of God and refused to accept the gift of a pagan king. Abram had enough confidence in God’s blessing to deny the blessing of another. In Genesis 15, God acknowledges the act of faith Abram performed, and He reaffirms his covenant promises to Abram, saying,
“Do not be afraid, Abram. I am a shield to you. Your reward shall be very great.” Genesis 15:1 NASB
In other words, you made the right decision Abram, and I will honor you. It was at this point that Abram’s true faith came forward. Abram challenged God, saying,
“What will you give me since I don't have children and my nephew stands to inherit everything I own?” Genesis 15:3 (my paraphrase)
Abram displayed his confidence in God’s love and covenant by speaking what was truly in his heart, something many of us are too scared to do. Abram challenged God’s promise of blessing, saying, in essence, “Money means nothing to me because I don't have any children to inherit it. I'm a dead guy.”
God did not respond in anger or offense. God did not scold Abram for being impertinent, disrespecting Him, or challenging Him. Rather, God respectfully and graciously responded to Abram’s challenge with a deeper promise:
“Your nephew will not be your heir. Someone coming from your own body will be your heir.” And He took him outside and said, “Now look toward the heavens and count the stars, if you are able to count them. That's how many children you will have.” Genesis 15:4-5 (my paraphrase).
God has a promise for every person who is angry with Him. But this promise of God will not be released until you bring your anger into a face-to-face conflict with God Himself. God is not afraid of your anger. YOU are afraid of your anger. You are worried God can't handle your anger, but you are wrong. If you are willing to listen to God’s reply and not dictate it, you will release anger by bringing it directly to Him. He will take your offense and put a promise in its place in your hand. But you must have the faith to man up and have the confrontation.
If the truth is told, you may hesitate because you don't want Him to take your anger. And if that is the case, you need to repent of your faith in anger and put your faith in God the Father.
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