God’s Frustration
Sometimes as I sit quietly in my church’s Adoration Chapel, God gives me a word. Something to reflect on for weeks. Most recently that word was frustration. I realize, like many others, I’ve been feeling frustrated. Frustrated with the continued surge of COVID despite having a vaccine available. Frustrated by its continued disruption of my life. And frustrated as my writing path has slowed to a crawl while I await what God has in store for me. It occurred to me—does God get frustrated too? And if so, what does God’s frustration look like?
Examples of God’s Frustration in Exodus
There are multiple examples of God’s frustration in the Old Testament. You need only look at the book of Exodus to see God’s frustration with the Hebrew nation. Exodus includes numerous examples of the people complaining, God responding, and the people complaining again. They cry for food and God gives them bread. Then they complain about having a steady diet of bread and no meat and God sends quail. Moses goes away to consult God and while he is gone, they fashion a golden idol to worship. Moses has to intercede between God and the people to keep him from destroying them in his frustration and anger.
“I have seen these people,” the Lord said to Moses, “and they are a stiff-necked people. Now leave me alone so that my anger may burn against them and that I may destroy them. Then I will make you into a great nation.”
But Moses sought the favor of the Lord his God. “Lord,” he said, “why should your anger burn against your people, whom you brought out of Egypt with great power and a mighty hand? Why should the Egyptians say, ‘It was with evil intent that he brought them out, to kill them in the mountains and to wipe them off the face of the earth’? Turn from your fierce anger; relent and do not bring disaster on your people. Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac and Israel, to whom you swore by your own self: ‘I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and I will give your descendants all this land I promised them, and it will be their inheritance forever.’” Then the Lord relented and did not bring on his people the disaster he had threatened.” (Exodus 32:9-14)
Moses and God
I love this passage. Here we see Moses standing up to God in support of the same people Moses had wanted God to destroy earlier in Exodus.
Many of my generation grew up with the Charles Heston image of Moses from the movie The Ten Commandments. Much as I love this movie, it’s portrayal of Moses is far from accurate. In the Bible we hear very little about what Moses was like as he grew up in Egypt. Descriptive passages are lacking since the purpose of the Biblical writers was not to record history but to pass on Salvation History.
What we do know about Moses is that he had a speech impediment and was afraid to speak in public. That was why God sent Aaron with Moses as his spokesperson.
We see in Exodus how this stuttering, fearful man, grows to be a great leader, even to the point of standing up to God when he believes God is in the wrong. It is a story, not just of freeing from slavery, but empowerment. God empowers Moses and brings out his leadership ability.
God doesn’t need Moses to keep him in line or to remind him of his nature—God knows his own nature. Through his interactions with God, Moses grew in confidence and became all he was born to be, so that later generations would say, there is none greater than Moses (until Jesus came along).
Other examples of God’s Frustration in the Old Testament
In Samuel the people decide they want a king to rule over them so they can be like other nations, rejecting God’s leadership through his judges. Rather than give into frustration and anger, God gave the people what they wanted. In the prophets we hear repeatedly how God is angry about the people’s treatment of the poor, widows and orphans, and their straying after false idols.
The situation was so bad in Sodom and Gomora that Abraham couldn’t even find ten good men to save the city (Genesis 18:22-32). God was patient with Abraham as he bargained for the lives of the people of Sodom and Gomora, but in the end, God knew there was no saving these people. And in Noah’s time, people were so wicked that God destroyed them all with a flood in order to start anew with Noah and his family. Despite God’s frustration with the Hebrew nation, he kept giving them more chances.
Clearly God has reasons to be frustrated. We, God’s people, continue to mess up, insisting on our ways rather than listening to God.
What Do We Learn from God’s Frustration?
If God can get frustrated, then we are in good company in our own frustrations. We have a God who experiences every human emotion, who cares enough about us to get upset and frustrated when we continue to make messes of our lives. One who loves us anyway.
Perhaps we can learn from our God how to deal with our frustrations. God was willing to listen to a subordinate, Moses, and change his mind. Can we be more open to the opinion of others? God gave the Hebrew nations repeated chances to repent, showing patience when dealing with them. Perhaps we can learn to be more patient.
What about you? Are you feeling frustrated? You are in good company!
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