It was a busy morning, with a mountain of laundry ahead of me. As I sorted clothes, I heard a scream from the bedroom. The 2-year-old had bitten the 4-year-old!
Swift justice was applied to the seat of the problem. And an angry mother returned to her task.
A few minutes later, the 2-year-old appeared at the laundry room door.
“Mommy, rock me!” he begged through his tears.
Stiffly I replied, “I don’t rock naughty boys!”
Immediately I was ashamed, but, I mean, after all!
There was a moment of silence. Then, “You rock sad boys.”
We rocked.
**********
For anyone who has ever been a kid, this scenario is familiar. Children fear parental anger. And parents often dish out anger whether it’s appropriate or not. So it seems that many adults walk around with a learned terror of God’s anger.
At least I do. I know in my head that every sin I ever committed was dealt with on the Cross. But in my heart, I expect and fear punishment. Yet the Bible says:
The Lord is compassionate and gracious,
slow to anger, abounding in love.
He will not always accuse,
nor will he harbor his anger forever;
he does not treat us as our sins deserve
or repay us according to our iniquities. Psalm 103: 8-10 (NIV)
When I think about it, I would have to say that it is true. So often the repercussions of my misdeeds had nothing to do with God, but were the consequences of my actions. Broken people have sharp edges; it is easy to be hurt, and to hurt each other.
But you, O Lord,
are a God of compassion and mercy,
slow to get angry
and filled with unfailing love and faithfulness. Psalm 86:15 (NLT)
People get angry; I’ve heard that beneath anger is fear. God has no reason to fear anything. I wonder if what we call “anger” is often just a loving Father firmly taking the hand of an erring child and leading it away from trouble.
So if I really believe that my sins – past, present, future – were cancelled at the Cross, then I do not need to fear the wrath of God. So my response should be:
All you saints! Sing your hearts out to God!
Thank him to his face!
He gets angry once in a while, but across
a lifetime there is only love. Psalm 30:4-5a The Message (MSG)
And it is comforting to know that God is a much better parent than I will ever be.