Biblical Text: Jeremiah 7:16-26; Jeremiah 12:1-4
Guidelines for Individual Playdates
Value of This Activity:
An opportunity to think about anger–about whether God is ever angry and about whether our anger is ever God-like.
To Begin . . .
Spend a moment in quiet prayer. If you wish, begin by freewriting for 3-5 minutes. Just let the pen empty out your concerns and thanksgiving for the day. Breathe.
How to Play . . .
- Jot down 3 things going on in the world today (or in your family or community) that you think are worthy of your anger. What’s happening that riles you — or that you think should anger all ‘good’ people?
- Read Jeremiah 12:1-4.
- Write your own complaint against God, modeling yourself after the prophet Jeremiah. Make your complaint about one of the three things you jotted down in Step 1, above.
- Read Jeremiah 7:16-26. God is the speaker in this portion of Jeremiah. Jot down a simple outline of the Jeremiah 7:16-26.
- Write your own version of God’s complaint — but this time, against the thing you wrote about in #3, above. Put it in God’s voice and follow the general outline you made of Jeremiah 7:16-26.
- Now, note that Jeremiah’s complaint here (ch. 12) comes later in the book of Jeremiah than God’s complaint (ch. 7). Set a timer for five minutes. Freewrite, using the one of the following prompts:
- I think that my anger and God’s anger …
- When God is angry, I …
- When I am angry, God …
- My anger makes me wish …
- I wish God’s anger would …
In Closing . . .
Take a moment to breathe and let the playtime settle around you. Carry your curiosity and insights and questions into the day.
Playdate Reference Material:
On Emotions
Guidelines for Individual Playdates
Playdates with Scripture ARCHIVES
Playdates with Scripture by Virginia Wiles is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at virginiawiles.com.