And the Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth Exodus 34:6 NKJV

I am a very food-dependent person. I don’t know if you know anyone like this. Food-dependent people are often called hangry people. But I don’t think this is a fair assessment. Food-dependent people aren’t particularly angry people we just have a hard time adjusting to the surrounding world when our bodies are not functioning properly. I remember one day watching a YouTube video when my father passed by and asked me to take the trash out to the street. I burst out in anger “Can’t you see I’m doing something!” That was a mistake. I knew it, my dad knew it. Thankfully my father did not return anger for anger, but instead helped me understand my outburst. How often do we react with anger? How often do we get angry with God? Is there a way we can learn about healthy positive anger? I think so, we just need to turn to the Bible.

The Bible describes a God who is filled with love and compassion but He also gets angry. This description of God found first in Exodus 34:6-7 is referenced over 27 times! The Biblical authors understood that the God of love and compassion could also get angry. Sometimes we try to separate these two ideas of God thinking that they are opposites or don’t play nicely with each other. However, this is not true. The God of the Bible gets angry because He loves. 

Woe to those who decree unrighteous decrees, Who write misfortune, Which they have prescribed To rob the needy of justice, And to take what is right from the poor of My people, That widows may be their prey, And that they may rob the fatherless. Isaiah 10:1-2 NKJV

God’s anger is often motivated by the injustices that humans do to other human beings. When God sees his people getting hurt, being abused, or taken advantage of His heart yearns to help. Like a parent who watches their child getting bullied on the playground, God must spring into action. This type of protective anger is a positive anger. When a parent sees their child’s hurt they are moved to take action on behalf of their beloved child. Our God does exactly this throughout the Old Testament, His anger burns against those who are hurting the weak, the sick, and the poor. 

What does this mean for us? Since God’s anger can be positive do you think that means our anger could be positive too? I think so. For so long people have fought against their anger trying to eliminate it completely. However, this causes issues. What happens when you can’t get rid of your anger? What happens when your anger comes back? We set ourselves up for failure when we try and get rid of something on our own. Instead, God has called us to be slow to anger and to find a better way in Him. 

So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath; for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God. James 1:19-20 NKJV

Human expression of anger does not produce God’s righteousness however, God’s expression of anger is within His righteousness. God does not get angry on a whim, in fact, it takes a while for God to get angry (slow to anger). God does not get angry over the insignificant things but instead over the oppression of others. The God of the universe has positive anger. God is seeking for you to give Him your anger. He is seeking you so that you can give up this negative anger that only brings destruction and instead seek His righteousness. 

Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord. Romans 12:19 NKJV

I for one am thankful for my earthly Father as well as my Father in Heaven who help me better understand anger. Without them, I would not be able to have a positive relationship with my anger. I have now seen that when I get upset over something as trivial as taking the trash out that is not positive anger and I can let go. But this journey with anger may not resonate with your journey. Maybe you are struggling with anger or you know someone who gets more than hangry. God is seeking to take that anger, He is seeking to help us understand what it means to be positive even in our anger. Will you let Him change you?