It seemed like a hundred little things.
Nothing earth-shattering or life-threatening, but just enough irritation to feed the bitter attitude that was already there.
The bitter attitude that had taken over without warning.
Now everything in my daily life added to my frustration. Expectations at work, more items added to the to-do list, students who had already checked out for summer break, kids’ less than stellar choices, the long wait at the driver’s licence office…
You get the idea.
Sure, looking back at this list I can see how minor these things were. Just a part of life, really. But at the time, each small frustration held a great deal of power in my life. That’s when I realized I’d let frustration take control.
Frustration is something we feel when we are unhappy with our circumstances. And the truth is, frustration is going to happen. But how do we allow ourselves to get to the place where we feel frustrated every single day?
How do we respond to frustration?
It usually begins with one tiny annoyance, something I could pass over without mentioning. But instead of letting it go, I fix my mind on it. I feed it. I allow it to grow and become a much bigger deal than it ever needed to be.
“You’ll never believe what happened at work today,” becomes my favorite conversation-starter when I come home from work. And when I put those feelings first, I give frustration more power.
Power over my decisions.
Power over my attitude.
Power over my heart.
The good news is, there's hope.
The promises in this verse offer hope for when we’ve let frustration gain control in our daily lives. Claiming these promises will put frustrated feelings in their rightful place. Because the way to take control away from frustration is to pay more attention to God’s presence than my feelings.
The way to take control away from #frustration is to pay more attention to God's presence than my #feelings.
Delight. Joy. Gladness. These are the feelings God has toward us. There’s something remarkable that happens when we think on these things instead of those tiny annoyances. What would happen if we replaced our “You won’t believe what happened at work today…” with “You won’t believe what God did today...”?
The results would be mind-blowing.
So let’s speak delight, joy, and gladness into our circumstances. Let’s proclaim the promises of Zephaniah 3:17 and put frustration back where it belongs. When we replace frustrated feelings with feeling the presence of the Holy Spirit, we will give God control over our decisions, attitudes, and hearts.
Blessings,
Kristine
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