Living Simple
OVERCOMING FRUSTRATION
We live in a world that is very daring and quite unapologetically frustrating. From the frustration that comes from dreams not being fulfilled, to plans not going the way they are expected to go and the many other things that plague each day of a man’s life on earth. For lack of words to use, frustration can be really frustrating, especially when almost all the time one can’t seem to fight his way through it or away from it. However, I believe God has a word for someone and everyone who is going through frustrating moments.
How frustration happens
Almost everything I write comes from the learning I get when I go for my early morning walk or jog. On this particular morning, I went to walk on the beach. The tide was out so the sand was a lot and was very loose. Walking was not so easy because of the loose sand. I walked down to the end of the beach and sat watching the vast sea as far as my eyes could possibly see. After a while, the cloud started to change. It was going to rain. Initially I thought it was just a passing cloud. But obviously it was not, because from where I was seated, I could see the cloud in the distance above the sea and the rain had already started there. Where I was seated didn’t have much covering, so I would either have to make my way to somewhere with some shelter or run home before the rain caught up with me. I decided to do the latter.
I started running. I was bent on running home, but the loose sand of the beach prevented me from running fast enough. The more I put effort in to run, the more I was slowed down by that loose sand. I was getting frustrated and tired. The rain caught up with me, so I had to branch off to a nearby shelter. It was then that the teachings about frustration started. The Lord asked, “Why are you frustrated?” No answer came to mind at first, so the teaching continued. The Holy Spirit started painting a picture in my heart about how frustration happens to us. He made a distinct difference between when I first came to the beach walking on the loose sand, without being frustrated, and how walking on the same loose sand this second time made me frustrated.
He put it this way. ‘When there is no corresponding match between the mental picture in our minds and the actions on the outside, and time is ticking, it creates frustration.’ Meaning, it was easy to walk on that loose sand when there was no rain coming without feeling frustrated because I had all the time I needed to use, but the moment the time factor came into the equation, by the way of the rain that was coming, frustration set in. The real physical action of me running slowly on the loose sand didn’t match the mental picture of me running fast.
This explanation made practical sense to me. I began to understand clearly that oftentimes we get frustrated when we set goals and aspirations for ourselves or others, and when they don’t go the way we want or think they should go, we lash out in frustration and get depressed. Especially when time doesn’t stop to say, “How are you doing today?”
Expectation, Time and Frustration
Sometime ago, I saw this writing on a wall which says “life is a journey, plan for it”. That made natural sense but to my spiritual mind it didn’t. Instantly, what came to me was “Life is His plan, journey it.” The difference between the two statements I am sure is as clear as day light. One is a life lived by plans and aspirations with lots of goal setting, but which may not be connected to the mind of God for a man. The other is a life lived from the hand of God. It’s a life devoid of selfish aspirations, devoid of goals that are detrimental to truth.
It’s a life that sees and receives the mind of God as the only mind to resort to for choices, decisions and plans. Meaning it’s a heart that knows that there was a plan from before creation and which each man has been called to live out within the space of their journey on the earth. Life is not random, nor is it unplanned by God. We just have a world full of those who think God is dead and thus their lives belong to them.
Overcoming frustration
The following are not necessarily the only things we need to know about dealing with frustration, but they can give us a start. To overcome frustration, one should consider doing these few things:
1. Live totally connected to that which is beyond life in the physical and which only a walk of faith can give. See beyond this world and live beyond its borders of time.
2. Give the control of your life to the One who made you and who knows what He intended for you before you were made. That men choose to be godless doesn’t make God ungodly.
3. Remember to respond in love to situations and not react to them.
4. Renew your mind about expectations, either by way of what you expect of yourself or what others expect of you.
5. Know that to make mistakes is ok and to accept correction is not demeaning.
6. Know that your life is God’s plan and He knows what your journey should be.
7. Live simply and also love simplicity. Life is full of dead weights which men call luxury. You, just simply journey His plan.
Of what use is life without God and of luxury when it will be laid down some day anyway? For the moment a man drops dead, such becomes another dead weight called CORPSE.
Think about it.
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