Signs that God is upset with you may seem puzzling, but they are there to warn us. Does God really get angry with us? Yes, God gets angry with us for so many reasons. So, what happens when God is angry with you? What do you need to do when God is angry with you? First, you need to find out what you did that made God angry with you. Then you have to seek His forgiveness and turn back to Him. God does not get angry for no reason. There are several things that He hates, Proverbs 6:16-19 (NIV). Therefore, when you do the things that God hates, He will get mad at you. And the only way to make things right is to repent and draw close to Him.
How do you know if God is angry with you? And, what are these things that make Him Upset? How does God express His anger?
What Makes God Upset?
The main thing that angers God is sin. God’s anger is aroused by mankind’s disobedience, rebellion and wickedness. It would be so foolish of us to think that God does not get angry. Scriptures say He is slow to anger, (Psalms 86:15). And, this confirms to us that God can actually get angry with you. Yes, He is not quick to get mad at you, but He gets angry. Furthermore, the Bible reminds us that His anger lasts for a moment, (Psalms 30:5). What this means is that He gets upset, even though it is only for a moment.
Psalms 7:11 (NIV) – “God is a righteous judge, a God who exposes His wrath every day.”
How Does God Express His Anger?
God expresses His anger upon mankind every day. It is only that His wrath is not the kind of wrath that we think we know.
So, why does God get upset? God gets angry when we demean His nature and character. He exposes His wrath when we knowingly defy His teachings and commands.
Deuteronomy 9:8 (NIV) – “At Horeb, you aroused the Lord’s wrath so that He was angry enough to destroy you.”
God does not get upset over nothing. We are the ones who provoke His anger and wrath through sin.
Romans 1:18 (NIV) – “The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness.”
God’s wrath is only revealed when people engage themselves in things that are ungodly and wicked. So, what happens when God is angry? And, how do you know that God is angry with you? What do you need to do when God is angry with you? Highlighted below are clear and discernible signs that God is upset with you.
1. Unanswered Prayers Are Signs That God Is Upset with You
Isaiah 59:1-2 (NIV) – “Surely the arm of the Lord is not too short to save, nor His ear too dull to hear. But, your iniquities have separated you from your God. Your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He will not hear.”
Sin, disobedience and wickedness separate us from God. There is no way that God will answer our prayers if we are far away from Him. He is a faithful God who satisfies the righteous with good things. However, He withholds the same good things from those who are disobedient. Therefore, when you notice that God is not answering your prayers, be in the know that He is upset with you. His silence is one of the clear signs of God’s wrath.
2. When You Face Endless Challenges
Ezekiel 7:3-5 (NIV) – “The end is now upon you, and I will unleash my anger against you. I will judge you according to your conduct and repay you for all your detestable practices. Neither will I look on you with pity; I will not spare you. I will surely repay you for your conduct and for the detestable practices among you. ‘‘Then, you will know that I am the Lord.’ “This is what the Sovereign Lord says: “‘Disaster! Unheard-of disaster! See, it comes!
You can only imagine what the Lord means with the warning that ‘disaster is coming.’ And, it is not just disaster, but unheard disaster. When God is upset with you, you will experience challenges after challenges. The experiences of the Israelites are a true definition of what God’s wrath looks like. God can send floods, famine, earthquakes or any other form of plague when He is upset. A series of challenges is one of the unmistakable signs that God is upset with you.
2. Delays Maybe Signs of God’s Wrath
Numbers 32:13 (NIV) – “The Lord’s anger burned against Israel and He made them wander in the wilderness forty years, until the whole generation of those who had done evil in His sight was gone.”
We often wonder what’s wrong with us when we experience delays in our lives. You may experience delays in getting married, getting a job or any other thing in life. Whatever it is that is delaying, it may mean God is upset with you. God can make everything in your life to delay when He is upset with you. He made the Israelites take forty years instead of forty days to get to Canaan because He was angry with them. We know God as a faithful God who is able to bring everything that He started in us to completion. However, this may not happen if He is upset with us. Are you experiencing delays in any aspect of your life? Maybe it’s time for you to do a soul-search. Delay is one of the discernible signs that God is upset with you.
3. When You Experience No Peace
Jesus is the prince of peace. His presence in our lives is supposed to give us peace that is beyond human knowledge. In fact, He promised to give us the peace that is different from the kind of peace that the world gives, (John 14:27). However, when God is upset with you, nothing in the world can give you peace. You will not be able to experience peace even in situations that are meant to be joyful. Everything that you do will deny you peace, and many things will come up to disrupt your peace.
4. Shame and Disgrace Are Signs That God Is Angry with You
Joshua 7:3-5 (NIV) – “When they returned to Joshua, they said, “Not all the army will have to go up against Ai. Send two or three thousand men to take it and do not weary the whole army, for only a few people live there.” So about three thousand went up; but they were routed by the men of Ai, who killed about thirty-six of them. They chased the Israelites from the city gate as far as the stone quarries and struck them down on the slopes. At this the hearts of the people melted in fear and became like water.”
The Israelites went to war against a very small nation called Ai. They were confident that they were going to destroy the people of Ai because it had few inhabitants. However, what happened made them feel ashamed and disgraced. The people of Ai beat them up and chased them away. Why did this happen so? It was because God was upset with the children of Israel. When God is angry with you, you will experience shame and defeat in the face of your enemies. You are more likely to lose every small battle when you have upset God.
5. God Will Release a Spirit of Confusion Upon You When He Is Angry with You
Genesis 11:7-8 (NIV) – “Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other.” So the Lord scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city.”
After the flood of Noah’s time, there are people who decided to build a tower with the intention of getting to heaven to overthrow God. They wanted to make a name and a kingdom for themselves in heaven. However, God got very upset with them. He confused their language so that they could not understand one another. This made it difficult for them to continue constructing the tower. Are you feeling confused lately? Do you feel like the spirit of confusion is upon you? Confusion in your life and plans is one of the clear signs that God is upset with you.
6. When God Is Angry with You, He Will Use Someone to Tell You
Do not ignore or feel bad when someone comes to tell you that what you are doing is wrong. It could be God speaking to you through someone else. God can speak to you through your church minister, parent, friend, sibling or any other person. He used Nathan to tell David that He was angry with Him for what he did to Uriah.
2 Samuel 12:7-10 (NIV) – “Then Nathan said to David, “You are the man! This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul. I gave your master’s house to you, and your master’s wives into your arms. I gave you all Israel and Judah. And if all this had been too little, I would have given you even more. Why did you despise the word of the Lord by doing what is evil in his eyes? You struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and took his wife to be your own. You killed him with the sword of the Ammonites. Now therefore, the sword will never depart from your house, because you despised me and took the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your own.”
Sometimes God will speak to you through other people when you make Him angry. Be humble, and listen to what people tell you when you make mistakes. When David learnt through Nathan that God was upset with Him, He repented. When people warn you about your way of life or conduct, it is an unmistakable sign God is upset with you.
What Do You Need to Do When God Is Angry with You?
You can learn from the many examples of people in the Bible who upset God but turned back to Him. The example of David is by far the best example you can emulate. When God is upset with you, it does not mean that He does not love you. Instead, it only means that He is not happy with something you have done. That is why He offers us so chances for us to restore our relationship with Him. Therefore, when you notice the signs that God is angry with you, do this;
a.) Repent
Every time David learnt that He had upset God, he humbled himself before God and repented. This is the best thing we can do when we make God angry in any way.
2 Chronicles 7:14 (NIV) – “If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”
God is a faithful God who calls us to repentance. His wrath does not last forever, but it lasts for a short period. And, when you confess your wrongdoings and repent, He will forgive you.
b. ) Turn Away from Sin
In 2 Chronicles 7:14, God says that if we turn from our wicked ways, then He will hear us and forgive us. If God is angry with you, try and avoid sin. Seek righteousness and purity, and God will uplift His wrath from you.
