Frustration

Sometimes we feel frustrated. We look at all that we, and the Lord, have invested in our lives and do not find an expression for it. What we are sensing is a “groan” from our spirit (Rm 8:22-23). It is an inward song only God’s creation and His children can sing; groaning.

What makes us groan is frustration (Rm 8:19). We have this sense that there is something greater, and we are right. It is not boastful thinking, nor is it inappropriate desire. It is appropriate to groan inwardly when we sense there is more to life than what we are living and doing. It is God who exceeds our expectations with the Life we live.

“Now to Him Who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, to Him be glory in the Church and in Christ Jesus through-out all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.” (Eph 3:20-21)
We cannot measure what we should expect by looking at what we’ve invested in our lives, and therefore, it is immeasurable what the Lord will do. We cannot imagine what path our lives should take, and therefore it is beyond our imagination. Our lives are contained in God, in His Son Jesus.

When we feel chastened by our own frustrations and kneel down to repent of wanting too much, perhaps we ought to stop, and praise God for His good aspirations for our lives instead. He said “I know the plans I have for you . . . plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” (Jer 29:11). The future is God’s to give.

We have been rubbing elbows with the divine, and are we to never notice there is more? With the power of God residing in us, should we ignore that a transformation is taking place that prepares us to become sons and daughters of God? (2 Cor 4:7) No, rather, it should excite us every day and whet our thirst for more.

Isaiah prophesied to the Jewish nation, inviting the thirsty to come eat and drink and be satisfied with the “richest of fare.” (Is 55:1-2) In this prophecy the Lord gives a glimpse into His own thought-life; “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways . . . As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts.” (Is 55:9) God doesn’t measure our lives the ways we do. He doesn’t think the way we do about our accomplishments, nor does He wait to scold us for wanting more of Him in our lives, and more of His works for our hands to do.

When we find ourselves in frustration, let us praise God. He will bring us up, as a Father brings up his child, into our rightful place. While we wait, let us remember that He has good thoughts towards us, and good intentions which He carries out in the unseen realm He inhabits. Amen.