Anger

The thing about anger is that it’s a secondary emotion. It comes as a result of something else — fear, old wounds, or unmet expectations. The best thing we can do is get super honest with ourselves about the anger we might allow to fester and recognize what’s going on below the surface. After tackling fear in yesterday’s devotional, let’s go one step further and release the anger that it causes.

As a special needs parent, I think feeling betrayed by God or blaming God is a natural response — by natural, I mean a human response. When we encounter health challenges in our children, it is difficult not to blame God, especially when it appears that God has removed his shield of protection from our children. For there is nothing a child can or can’t do to deserve a serious health condition or the loss of his or her life.

I spent many years being angry with God about my daughter’s health. It took a friend asking me the question, “Do you want your daughter to be sick?” for me to lay down my anger. To repent. To receive restoration. To crawl back up in God’s lap for comfort. Since the child I have been entrusted with is actually God’s child, it is unfathomable to think that God wants her to be sick. You know as a parent just how hard it is to watch your child suffer; God is with you in this. He is loving you through this. He does not want your child to suffer any more than you do.

Dig Deeper

Are you mad at God for allowing your child to have this condition? Yes or No

Do you think God wants your child to have a life-altering condition? Yes or No

Are you ready to lay down that anger?

If you choose, today can be the first step toward laying your anger down at the feet of Jesus. Today you can crawl back in his lap and receive his comfort, restoration, and strength. With anger out of the way, we can clearly see God’s love for us and rest in him.

Prayer

Lord God, I come before you now, your broken daughter. I repent of the anger I have harbored in my heart, and I lay it down at your feet. I know you can be trusted with every aspect of my life, and that includes my child. I’m sorry for blaming you for my child’s condition and the distance that has caused in our relationship. I know you love my child even more than I do, and it must break your heart to watch her struggle, just as it breaks mine. Open my eyes today to see your blessings that are being poured out on my life and the life of my child. Thank you for loving me through the hard days. Thank you for being my strength, my peace, my comfort. Remind me if I pick up the torch of anger again that you can quench it when I come to your peaceful waters. I rest in your trustworthy hands. In the holy name of Jesus, I pray. Amen.