Frustrated

Have you gotten frustrated by something or someone?

It might have been a password you forgot on a computer application and you were not able to log in.

It might have been a smoke detector which started beeping in the middle of the night because the battery was dead.

It might have been when you picked up a piece of clothing only to discover your cat had urinated on it.

It might have been a person who cut you off in traffic, cut in front of you at the grocery store or ignored you.

Regardless of the source, we all get frustrated at times.

The Christian response is to step back from the situation, take a deep breath, and ask the Lord to help control your response. Jesus got frustrated often. He was human. The Pharisees made him angry. His disciples frequently misunderstood Him. He got tired and hungry and made it a point to get away from people and spend time with His Father.

And yet, He never sinned.

Being frustrated is not a sin. Badly responding to our circumstances, however, can be terribly sinful.

Ask yourself these questions:

Is this thing, situation or person going to permanently affect the outcome of my life? Is this just a passing, temporary blip on the radar screen, which will disappear as quickly as it appeared? If it is, then we don’t need to make such a big deal over it.

Scripture teaches us that self control is a spiritual virtue:

“He who is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he who rules his spirit than he who takes a city.” Proverbs 16:22

To be frustrated is to be human. To control our spirit in the midst of our frustration is to be like Jesus. That in itself is the ultimate goal of each of us.