What Has You Frustrated?

Are you ever frustrated? Maybe the better question is: Have you been frustrated yet  today?

We all deal with frustration. Things don’t go the way we want them to go. Other people don’t behave the way we want them to behave. Everything seems to take 10 times longer than it should and we don’t have time for that!

My biggest frustration seems to be related to technology. I don’t care how many times my husband or one of my sons patiently tells me the steps to accomplish a task on the computer or on my phone I just can’t seem to remember what to do next. I get frustrated and they most certainly must get frustrated with me because they have to keep telling me things over and over again. They have been heard to joke about how all Mom has to do is touch an electronic device and it develops some sort of glitch or malfunction.

There are other things that frustrate me too. Sometimes I get frustrated that I still struggle with having to learn the same lessons over and over again.  The Apostle Paul understood this problem when he said in Romans 7:15 For what I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate.  That sounds like frustration to me.

A while back, I participated in a homeschool lesson with the grandkids. The lesson was about frustration. We talked about the story of Joni Eareckson Tada who as a young girl was injured in a swimming accident and was paralyzed. She has spent nearly 50 years in a wheelchair. She learned to paint holding the brush between her teeth.

Part of our lesson was to try to draw a butterfly while holding the pencil with our teeth. Not an easy task.  It took patience as I tried to make the pencil go in the direction I wanted it to. The pencil seemed to have a mind of its own!  I was actually quite surprised to see that the picture could at least be identified as a butterfly even though it was a very crude likeness. At one point one of the kids asked if they were doing it right. We talked about how there is no “right” way to do art. If there were, then all artists work would look the same. It got me to thinking about how that applies to other areas of life as well. Perhaps always aiming for perfect is part of the reason we can get so frustrated in the first place.

The word frustration comes from a Latin word meaning “in vain, or to disappoint.” It’s something we all deal with nearly every day. Like the Apostle Paul, we can get frustrated with ourselves and perhaps wonder if things will ever change.

But God gives us encouragement in His Word. Here are some verses to turn to when you feel frustrated.

“Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.”1 Corinthians 15:58

“Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”Isaiah 41:10

“And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.” Galatians 6:9