It’s a pretty common thing to get mad at God.

Have you ever felt angry at your earthly father? Remember the teenage years when you may have felt the steady hand of a father not giving into your request?

(I’m not talking about abusive fathers, but the picture of a caring father who wants the best for his son or daughter. Not a perfect father, but an involved father. If you didn’t have a father, or he was abusive, I hope you will understand what I am saying).

Any authority figure provides an example, but a father figure is pertinent because God is a Heavenly Father.

Getting mad at God is not much different than getting mad at an earthly father, really, except God is perfect and his response is perfect.

In other words, God has the shoulders for it. He can take it.

But eventually, you have to decide if you are going to stay mad at God.

Some people do, you know.

They become bitter. Life is not pleasant for them.

Listen. I know a lot of very, very bad things happen in our world. I am not diminishing your pain.

But somewhere along the line, you will have to decide if you are going to accept what happened and move on.

Moving on doesn’t mean you are the same person before your pain. It doesn’t mean it’s okay that it happened.

It does mean you make your peace with it and God, understanding that for now, we face great difficulty in our lives at times.

The only way you can stop being angry is to settle it once and for all: you cannot change anything by being angry.

This only comes from believing God and trusting him, knowing he will do what he says he will do, even if you’re hurting and do not understand “why”.

God will help you see this. You have to first decide you want it.