I first asked this question on the blog in 2021.

The years leading up to that post were filled with highs and lows. My husband and I were struggling with infertility, life felt uncertain, and I found myself asking a question that I think many Christians quietly wrestle with:

“Is God mad at me?”

I wasn’t asking because I wanted an excuse for my behavior. I genuinely wondered if I had done something wrong. Was God punishing me? Had I disappointed Him? Was He withholding something because of my mistakes?

Since then, I’ve had countless conversations with friends and readers who have asked the same thing.

Maybe not with those exact words, but close enough.

“I think God is punishing me.”

“Maybe this is happening because of what I did.”

“I feel like God is getting me back.”

I’ve realized this question usually doesn’t come after a season of rebellion. It comes after a hard season.

A prayer goes unanswered.

A relationship falls apart.

You keep struggling with the same sin.

Life isn’t going the way you expected.

When we’re hurting, we often interpret God through our circumstances instead of His character.

But Psalm 103 paints a very different picture of God.

“The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in steadfast love… He does not treat us as our sins deserve… As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.”

Those aren’t the words of a God looking for reasons to push us away. They’re the words of a God who delights in showing mercy.

What’s even more remarkable is who wrote them.

David.

A man who committed adultery, arranged a murder to cover it up, and experienced the painful consequences of his sin. Yet after experiencing both conviction and forgiveness, David still described God as compassionate, gracious, and abounding in love.

That tells me something important.

God’s correction is real, but His character never changes.

We often assume God responds the way people do. We expect Him to hold grudges, withdraw His love, or wait for us to earn our way back.

But God is not like us.

He is holy. He is just. He is compassionate, gracious, and faithful. His desire isn’t to shame us into hiding. It’s to draw us back into relationship with Him.

That doesn’t mean there are never consequences for our choices. Scripture is clear that there are. But consequences are not the same as rejection.

So if you’ve been wondering whether God is mad at you, don’t let your feelings answer that question.

Start with His character.

And if you’re wondering how to learn His character, start with His Word.

You don’t have to read the entire Bible in a week. Start by finding someone whose story feels familiar to yours.

When I couldn’t get pregnant, I studied the women in Scripture who struggled with infertility. I wanted to see how God responded to them. I wasn’t just looking for answers to my situation—I was learning about the God who walked with them through it.

The more you know God’s character, the less likely you are to assume the worst about Him when life gets hard.

Reflection: When life gets difficult, what is your first assumption about God? Is it based on your circumstances, or on what Scripture says about His character?

The enemy wants you to question God’s character. Scripture invites you to know it.

Until next time,

Dominique