In his work on religious affections (desires & emotions of the will), Jonathan Edwards asserts, “True religion, in great part, consists in holy affections” Unfortunately, not all affections are as enjoyable as the one’s we have looked at so far. Life in a fallen world leads us to anger in suffering at times. What does it look like to express these kinds of emotions in a way that honors the Lord and, ultimately, to combat them?

This Week

A lot about dealing with anger in suffering can be learned from the Psalms. While the issue of anger and despair in suffering is not easy, the Psalmist does give us an important insight in Psalm 88.

1. We should never cease to bring our needs to God even when we are to the point of anger and despair.

We all reach points in our lives when we encounter suffering that we simply cannot explain. We begin to despair and ask the question of “Why, God?” For me, this first happened when I was sitting on my couch with my parents at twelve years old and told three of the most ominous words in the english language: “You have cancer.” The despair that comes from moments like that in our lives can quickly turn to anger because we don’t understand why God would allow something like this.

Rather than bottling up their feelings, the Psalmists—both here in Psalm 88 and in many others—actually express their anger and despair. The great danger is not expressing our “wrong” emotions to God but rather avoiding going to him at all. Instead of cutting ourselves off from God because we feel distant or angry at Him, we must respond like the Psalmist in 88:1-2—“O Lord, God of my salvation; I cry out day and night before you. Let my prayer come before you; incline your ear to my cry!”

Remind yourself of the truth of the Gospel and cry out in desperation for God to hear. Never cease to go to God in prayer. Even in the darkest of moments, he uses the grace of prayer to heal our hearts and restore our faith.