Thursday, December 18, 2008

Bent Outta Shape: Biblical?


Wowzers!!!  My first *real* day of blogging has me just about overwhelmed.  If you've ever seen say, my parents with an iPod you'd know about how I feel right now.  As technically saavy as I'd once thought myself to be, I am humbled by this new experience.  For one, I originally had this blog hosted on wordpress, partially because I saw a few others there and said, "this looks easy."  Wrong, I tell ya.  Wrong, altogether wrong.  Now, just as I was getting frustrated, I thought back to a recent convo I had with my brother in Christ.  We were discussing the Bible's view on the acceptability of frustration as a normal Christian response to difficulty.  The fact is, we discovered, frustration is actually a fruit.  In other words, frustration is the reflection in a mirror; the reality of which is anger.  As I thought about my frustration with this blog thing, I began to chip away at the facade and boil down to the truth.  I was angry-angry because A.  I was not having my expectations met when it came to putting this blog together, and B.  My pride told me that I was smart enough to have this thing whipped together in 5 minutes.  Well I called it frustration, justified it as proper and acceptable, and was just about to move on.  Then I thought about our Lord.........Did Jesus ever exhibit frustration in the way that we do?  I mean, there were plenty of situations He was found in that if it had been me, I would've been FRUSTRATED (read, angry). The disciples continuing to ask Him about things He'd explained, and REexplained, etc....... See, the truth is that there are some instances that frustration would appear to be warranted. However, Scripture does not give a believer an out when it comes to our responses to adversity.  During this ordeal, I'm realizing that frustration=anger=anxiety, all of which we should depend on the Lord to rid us of.  In simple terms, this is an opportunity for growth for me.  I have gone sooooo long thinking that to be frustrated is  OK, and I've allowed that false belief to lead to justification for the more heinous manifestations of that frustration.  Some of these have been argument, raised voice, silent treatment, irritability, and the distancing of myself from the Body of Christ.    I have to look at any emotion that has produced such foul fruit as those I just described as bad, not good or acceptable unto the Lord.  Philipians 4:6-7 says this:
Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your
requests be made known to God.   7And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
This, by no means, is the only text in the Word that deals with this issue.  However, it does strike a deadly blow to my response to this particular difficulty.  When will the peace of God guard my heart and mind?  When I turn my anxiety/worry/frustration into prayer with thanksgiving unto God.  The next time I'm at work on this blog and I feel frustration creeping in, I'll pray.  God's wisdom and grace are promised to those who humble themselves and seek it.  (James 1:5 and  James 4:6) 

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