No matter how many times I sweep the yard, there are always leaves scattered around the next day. Frustrating. I live with this clenched-up sense that I have something to say, but I’m not quite sure what it is, and I don’t know how to say it. Frustrating. My pug Pepto knows he’s not allowed on the couch, and no matter what I do, I can’t seem to stop him. Frustrating.
Frustration is a gift of grace from God.
Humankind has picked a fight with its creator. James talks about how God gives grace to the humble, and how God opposes the proud. In fact, God comes against the proud with military-like might. It’s as if we walk out of the tunnel like in Gladiator, and in the middle of the coliseum is the God of the Cosmos whose power and might is directed against us in our pride.
In our self-dependence and in our indifference, we choose anything but humble repentance and faithful obedience to God. It’s not just a matter of being against God; it’s wrong for us to be less than fully for God.
So why is frustration a grace-gift from God?
When we get to the end of ourselves, that’s where we find God. When, in our frustration, we recognize that much of what is “under our dominion” wars against us, we can recognize the reality that we also war against God. Our frustration can be the catalyst for ongoing repentance and a restored relationship with God.
And then we’ll be free from the frustration, right?
Not this side of heaven we won’t. So let’s not get sucked into the lie of vigorously trying to “make life work.” Instead, concentrate on knowing God and awaiting Jesus’ return. That’s when the hardships of this frustrating life will find their final conclusion.
Dig Deeper:
Genesis 3:14-19
James 4:6-10
