Angry With God? Why Service Doesn’t Earn Peace

The post begins with a woman who has served the Lord for decades and is angry with God, not because of a particular loss or injustice but because she feels her faithful service went unrewarded. The author notes that many in the church share this feeling, describing faithful workers who feel owed a reward and ask where it is.

The author then shares his own experience of serving for ten years as a pastor in Hong Kong while wondering why the church did not grow. Looking back, he recognizes that his sense of “faithful service” was mixed with ambition and insecurity, and that he had come to believe he had to prove himself and that more effort would bring God’s blessing. He is clear that hard work and service are good, but he warns that no one can earn divine favor, and that expecting God to repay effort can lead to disappointment, then anger and bitterness.

Drawing on Romans 5, the post argues that the hostility in a broken relationship with God is not on the Father’s side, since his heart is for peace and reconciliation. The author encourages readers who feel angry or at odds with God to ask why, perhaps because they have absorbed a message that God rewards those who perform.

Finally, the post points to peace with God through Jesus as a gift received by faith, not something produced from within or earned. Peace is described as a fruit of God’s righteousness, and the author urges anyone who is bitter or disappointed over unmet expectations to return to the basics of grace, surrender their ambitions, and receive God’s gifts by faith.

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