It’s Okay To Yell At God

You won’t hurt his feelings

What is the proper way to address God? Should we come in reverence and quietness, or is it okay to be loud and angry with God? The answer is, Yes!” There are times when we need to sit before God in quietness and respect with a listening attitude. Psalm 46:10 tells us to “Be still and know I am God.” In quietness God speaks to us, and the quietness is needed for us to hear his voice. But at times our souls need to be loud before God - to shout at him in our pain and frustration.

God called a reluctant Moses to lead the people. And what a motley group of complainers they were. Time and time again, they disobeyed God and failed to follow Moses’ leadership. Moses became weary of these rebellious people - to the point of mental and physical exhaustion. Here is the account of his yelling at God.

Moses heard all the families standing in the doorways of their tents whining, and the LORD became extremely angry. Moses was also very aggravated. And Moses said to the LORD, "Why are you treating me, your servant, so harshly? Have mercy on me! What did I do to deserve the burden of all these people? Did I give birth to them? Did I bring them into the world? Why did you tell me to carry them in my arms like a mother carries a nursing baby? How can I carry them to the land you swore to give their ancestors? Where am I supposed to get meat for all these people? They keep whining to me, saying, 'Give us meat to eat!' I can't carry all these people by myself! The load is far too heavy! If this is how you intend to treat me, just go ahead and kill me. Do me a favor and spare me this misery!" — Numbers 11:10-15 NLT

These are not words of quiet and reverence! These are words of frustration and anger. In my mind, I can see Moses standing in the desert, shaking his fist at God, and yelling these words. Let me paraphrase. “Lord, this is all your fault! Why did you call me to lead these stupid, rebellious people if they are not going to follow you or me? All they do is complain. What a bunch of whiners! And you aren’t any help, God. I didn’t sign up for this! If this is the way it is going to be, just put me out of my misery and kill me right now!

This scene from Israel’s exodus reminds me of the 1980 movie “Private Benjamin,” starring Goldie Hawn. In the film, Judy Benjamin (Hawn) joins the army after a series of unfortunate events, including her husband's death on their wedding night. She was misled by a recruiter's promises of an easy army experience. However, the reality of military life, especially basic training, was far from what she expected. This disappointment to her iconic outburst, “This is not the army I signed up for!”

This is not the life we signed up for! Marriage shouldn’t be this hard! Parenting shouldn’t be this hard! Working shouldn’t be this hard! Sickness, grief, hurt, disappointment, and betrayal are all a part of life. Life shouldn’t be this hard! But it is!

There are times when life becomes so overwhelming that we want to yell at God - when our souls need to be loud. When we need to yell at God! Listen to these words of King David in Psalm 13.

O LORD, how long will you forget me? Forever? 
How long will you look the other way? 
How long must I struggle with anguish in my soul, 
with sorrow in my heart every day? 
How long will my enemy have the upper hand? 
Turn and answer me, O LORD my God! 
Restore the sparkle to my eyes, or I will die.
— Psalm 13:1-3 NLT  

These are not quiet words. These are not calm words. These are not words of assurance. They are shouts of anguish. Shouts of despair. “O LORD, how long will you forget me? Forever? How long will you look the other way?”

There are times when we need to express our frustration, our fear, our hurt by yelling at God. When we need to shake our fist and say, “How long, Lord? Before you answer me? Before you do something? Before you bring relief? How long, Lord?”

Go ahead. Rail at God! Shake your fist at him! Tell him exactly how you feel. He can take it. He won’t strike you with lightning. He won’t get his feelings hurt. What will he do? He will love you. He will encourage you. He will forever be with you. He will never leave or abandon you. Even if you get angry with him. Even if you doubt him. Even if you yell at him. He is forever there, never moving. Look at how David ended Psalm 13.

But I trust in your unfailing love. 
I will rejoice because you have rescued me. 
I will sing to the LORD because he is good to me.
— Psalm 13:5-6 NLT

No matter how bad things seem, God is good. The bad things that happen in our lives are not God’s fault. Let me say that again. The bad things that happen in your life and mine are not God’s fault! Because sin entered the world, everything is broken. Everything! Relationships are difficult. Disease happens. Disasters occur. Life is difficult. And, like the story of Humpty Dumpty, we cannot put it back together again - no matter how hard we try. Only God, through Jesus, can do that. AND, even He does not make everything perfect in our lives. There will continue to be trouble and heartache. There will still be disease, disaster, and difficulty. Jesus even said that our problems will not stop when we trust in him.

“I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world”. — John 16:33 NLT

Trials, troubles, and sorrow will always be a part of our lives. But notice Jesus’ twofold promise. We can have peace in the middle of everything because he has overcome the world. How? How can we have peace when our world is falling apart? When we are facing crumbling relationships, the untimely death of a loved one, a diagnosis of terminal cancer, a job layoff, and a million other things that can disrupt our lives? Because a loving God is always there. As King David said, “But I trust in your unfailing love” (Psalm 13:5). God’s love for you and me is always present. It may not seem like it. He may seem distant - so far away. AND, we may need to yell at him in frustration. But he is always there. Always available. Always loving us. “Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the LORD will personally go ahead of you. He will be with you; he will neither fail you nor abandon you.” (Deuteronomy 31:8 NLT).

This means that when we get angry at God, even when we yell at him, he will not move away from us. He will not stop loving us. And when we calm down or become so worn out from our hurt, disappointment, or grief, that we do not have the energy to yell any more, he is right there to accept us and love us - like no one else can. But in the meantime, it is okay to yell at God. You won’t hurt his feelings.