Does Frustration Bug You?

“A fool always loses his temper, But a wise person holds it back.” Proverbs 29:11 NASB

“No matter what type of anger or frustration we have to struggle with, a clear picture of how our faith in God is the answer to anything we need to overcome.” – Carol Graham

Small things don’t matter until you’re in bed with a buzzing mosquito!

Frustration is those annoying, itching, biting mites interfering with our goals, rest and peace. It’s so remarkable that people can handle catastrophes, tragedies and pain better than the daily nits that poke at us. An urgent phone call in the middle of a meeting, a child throwing up in class, or a flat tire on the way to work are those little bugs that throw the whole day out of kilter. Worse, our attitude.

Have you been on the phone to make sure your internet provider is aware of a “bug” in your service? Have you waited an hour to be told we’ll send you a new router then it comes and it’s not the problem? So, it’ll be a week or two before we can send someone to your office to correct the problem and don’t even say they’re sorry? This is what really shows who I am! Bad words come into play. Throwing the router out the window comes to mind. The image of Jesus’ cursing a fig tree that produced no fruit so that it withered and never produced again, gives me a wee bit of satisfaction.

Control. I have, once again, fooled myself into thinking I have it. The big obstacles of life are so hard, it’s true, but we give ourselves grace and admit we do not have control over life and death, tornadoes or floods. We pray. We give ourselves a bit of compassion. We seek assistance. We pray for each other. More importantly, we get back up, dust ourselves off, thank the Father, and start again. It’s the same for the little, annoying, and frustrating things. Life is so full of these! And many times in our day.

Musings

The termites, mites, gnats and bugs of life. These are what cripple our spiritual walk and our joy. The daily “what nows” of life humble us. The belief that we should have control and do have control over the little annoyances deceives us. Perhaps, that’s the point. Let’s start all over again… With grace. They are small things compared to the eternal picture.

Prayer

Dear Father,

Thank you for your wisdom, grace and counsel in the big and the little things. We consider little things annoyances and frustrations but they are the daily disciplines of being more like your Son and living in abundance. No matter what happens today, you are with us and we can joyfully, and with a bit of humor and humility, have a good day. Jesus took the world as it is. We need to do this too.

Amen.