Frustration...

It's something we've all experienced...frustration.  Whether it's frustration because your doctor's appointment was at 1:00 and it's now 2:30, or a decision was made that you feel was unfair, or frustration that someone you care about has let you down...the list could go on and on, but in the end, we've all been there. 

Frustration is nothing new, and as a Christian, I strive to view things through the eyes of Jesus.  Was Jesus ever frustrated?  Yes.  The Bible may not use that word, but we can see it in his actions.  When the money changers were cheating God's people out of their money in the temple, He was so frustrated that He overturned their tables.  And this is purely conjecture, but I'm sure there were times when He was frustrated with the disciples.  Look at the story of the feeding of the 5,000.  The disciples tell  him the people are hungry, and what is Jesus's response?  "You feed them."

So the question becomes, "How do we handle frustration?"  *SIGH*  I don't have any magical answers, but I can tell you what I do.  First, I know when I'm frustrated, I'm very likely to also be angry.  I have to mentally, and sometimes verbally, tell myself to calm down.  No good ever comes from rash actions or words.  Next, I pray.  I don't get fancy.  I just tell Jesus how I'm feeling and ask for His help in remembering and applying what I know I should do and to give me wisdom.  Then, I strive to obey.

Now listen, I've never audibally heard the voice of God, but I know what His Word, the Bible, says.  I don't need to pray and ask God if it's okay for me to gossip about the person I'm frustrated with, because I already know the answer to that.  I don't have to pray and ask God if I can lie about a situation to make it sound worse than what it was so I come out looking like the good guy, because I already know that's not ok.  But I DO pray and ask God to remind me of these things because I know that in the heat of my anger, I can easily forget.

At the end of my "episode of frustration", I try to evaluate how I responded and make mental "notes-to-self" so that I can learn from what I did--whether positive or negative. 

This isn't any kind of "recipe-for-success...it's just what I do.  Maybe it'll work for you!