Anger, Love, and the Character of God
Scripture — Isaiah 54:8 (NRSV)
In overflowing wrath for a moment
I hid my face from you,
but with everlasting love I will have compassion on you,
says the LORD, your Redeemer.
Focus
God’s immense love for us does not diminish God’s anger in the face of injustice, disobedience, or unrighteousness. Like a loving parent, God can be angry “for a moment.” Yet, in mercy, God’s face will be turned toward us in forgiveness and love.
Devotion
When I was a young Christian, verses like Isaiah 54:8 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 from us in a surge of anger?
Over the years, I have become more accepting—but not completely comfortable—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 are Christians, or when a child is abused by a cruel adult. God’s anger, I now see, is a pure, righteous response to human sin.
Moreover, I have grown in my understanding of the peculiar flavor of my own personal experiences of anger. I can grasp 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. Though my dad never beat me or said terrible things to me, the fierceness of his anger was frightening. Knowing how I respond to anger in a father figure helps me see how much I project upon God. It also enables me to accept the biblical picture of God without the fear I once knew as a child.
Why am I more accepting of God’s anger today? Because I know that God is completely just and completely loving. I can begin to understand how anger is not inconsistent with deep, lasting love. As a father, I know how angry I could be with my children when they were young. Yet this anger in no way diminished my love for them. And, in a way, the power of my anger was an extension of that love. I wanted what was best for my children. When they did things that harmed them, I felt both compassion and anger. Thus, I can begin to grasp how God could be angry with us “for a moment,” even when God’s love is “everlasting” (54:8).
Reflect
How do you respond to the biblical picture of God’s anger?
Does this image of an angry God remind you of something from your own personal history?
How do you reconcile the love of God with God’s wrath?
In what ways have you experienced God’s kindness and compassion?
Act
Talk with your small group or a wise friend about how you respond to the biblical picture of God’s anger.
Pray
Gracious God, 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. Therefore, I thank you for the ways you have helped me grow in my understanding. Thank you for helping me to unravel my own personal experiences of anger. Thank you for allowing 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 surge, while your love is everlasting. Knowing that you love me gives me the confidence to see you in the fullness of your revelation. Amen.
Find all Life for Leaders devotions here. Explore what the Bible has to say about work at the High Calling archive, hosted by the unique website of our partners, the Theology of Work Project. Reflection on today’s Life for Leaders theme can be found here: Be the Answer.
Mark D. Roberts
Senior Strategist
Dr. Mark D. Roberts is a Senior Strategist for Fuller’s Max De Pree Center for Leadership, where he focuses on the spiritual development and thriving of leaders. He is the principal writer of the daily devotional, Life for Leaders,...