“Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slander, as well as all types of evil behavior.” Ephesians 4:31 NLT

You’d think after sharing last week’s devotion I would’ve broken up with frustration.

Thrown it away.

Sent it back to where it came from.

But that wouldn’t be entirely accurate. You see, I realized an important truth about frustration this week. Like anything I practice over and over, frustration can become a habit.

And habits are hard to break.

“Get rid of all bitterness…” Eph. 4:31 NLT

Even when we pray, read Scripture, and allow God to change our hearts, frustration will continue if we don’t make a daily commitment to replace old habits with new ones. Paul tells the believers at Ephesus in today’s verse to get rid of bitterness. Throw it away. Send it back where it came from. But why is it so hard to get rid of it? How can we fall back into feelings of frustration so easily?

Frustration feeds on an overworked soul.

Time and time again I’ve given into frustration. Just two short days after beginning this month’s conversation here on the blog, I allowed an unexpected twist in my plans to spark a gripe session. This was a busy weekend for us, filled with fun family activities. But with those good times can come lots of late nights, traveling, and tiredness.

Busy days are not necessarily bad, but we need to be alert during those times when our schedules are unusually full. Frustration loves an overworked soul, and it has this pesky way of creeping in and causing disruption. And the more attention I give it, the stronger it gets.

Frustration gives me a temporary feeling of satisfaction. I can vent to my husband about my day, gripe about this and that on social media, or let life’s little annoyances get under my skin. These quick fixes may help me breathe a sigh of relief that lasts a minute or two, but they don’t give my heart what it longs for, which brings us to the Truth about frustration…

When I tell God about my frustration, His peace wipes away its power.

There’s something miraculous that happens when I begin sharing those frustrating moments with God. Instead of the anger growing bigger and bigger, His precious Spirit begins to soothe the tension I feel inside. God puts everything in perspective, and frustration’s power fades.

“Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:7 NLT

Now that we’ve uncovered the truth, we can make that daily commitment. Instead of falling back into the habit of feeling frustrated, let’s be aware when frustration tries to take control again. Let’s allow the Holy Spirit to replace our #feelingfrustrated with #feelingcalm.

Blessings,

Kristine

We're talking about how to combat frustration every week in June here at kristinebrown.net. Join us each Friday for your weekly devotion. Subscribe here to have your devos delivered to your inbox! Join the conversation on our Facebook page here.

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.

“For the Lord your God is living among you. He is a mighty savior. He will take delight in you with gladness. With His love, He will calm all your fears. He will rejoice over you with joyful songs.” Zephaniah 3:17 NLT

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