How Not to Provoke God to Anger (1)

Below is a Daily Dew insight on how not to provoke God to anger such that we incur His wrath instead of His favour.

Now when the people complained, it displeased the LORD; for the LORD heard it, and His anger was aroused. So the fire of LORD burned among them and consumed some in the outskirts of the camp. – Numbers 11:1

Oftentimes, when we are embattled with challenges, or we don’t have our desire or answer to our prayers, there is a tendency to resort to complaint; we whine and gripe endlessly in a bid to arm-twist or blackmail God to look at our side. However, instead of getting our objective, what we usually achieve by so doing is to provoke Him.

Complaint is one of the human habits that easily irritate God. It displeases Him to no end and attracts His consuming fire. Fire? Yes, Fire. Even if He does not send a fire, the fact that He is angry is enough to spark up a fire!

God expects us to have an attitude of gratitude in all situations. Why? Because even when it doesn’t look like it, He is actually working all things out for our good. That may be very difficult to believe. But the truth is that God genuinely loves and cares about every one of His children, both the obedient and the wayward. His love is as constant as the rising of the Sun, even more so.

Imagine how you would feel if you were planning a surprise for your loved one only for that person to start acting up, complaining and picking faults in your conduct. How would you feel? Hurt? Disappointed? Frustrated? That is the same way God usually feels whenever we complain about our situation, which is only a process He is using to ferry us to the destination He is taking us.

In the case of the Israelites, God was taking them to the Promised Land. But their undoing was their constant cries as they passed through the wilderness on the way to ‘the land flowing with milk and honey’. They did it to the point that God did not even bother to inform Moses ahead, as He used to do, before He started to punish them by raining fire on them.

These days, there may not be physical fire from heaven, but the feeling of being burned with the same intensity as if one is really under fire will nonetheless be there. In order to avoid this kind of divine retribution, let us start to praise God more and whine less; thank more and gripe less; sing more and groan less. In other words, let us imbibe the spirit of the passage that says, “IN EVERYTHING, give thanks. For this is the will of the LORD for you…”

You will succeed in Jesus’ Name!

Also read:

• How Do You React When Confronted with Truth?
• Understanding God: He is Inventive
• Help Is On The Way: The Power Of Faith
• The Harness of the LORD (2)
• Walking with God Since Foster Care