Bitterness Toward God

How long, Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? —Psalm 13:1

I have come to believe that, at one level, all bitterness is ultimately directed toward God. It may be cloaked in anger toward a particular person or group of people who have wronged us, but it actually extends far beyond them, far above them.

We all seem to know intuitively that God’s power is great enough to deal with our problems—if He wanted to. So when woundedness turns to bitterness—when unforgiveness is given enough room, time, and oxygen to take on a life of its own—the prospect of a powerful God who doesn’t seem to care enough about us to step into our situation is troubling to us.

It goes against everything we’ve been led to believe about His goodness and fairness, everything we’ve painted in our minds about an even-handed God who always squares things in the end.

Can we be honest with God? Absolutely. But there’s a point where our honest questions directed toward God cross the line and become an expression of a proud heart.