Act or React?

The true test of walking in the Spirit will not be the way we act, but the way we react to the daily frustrations of life.

~~Beverly LaHaye

Do you ever have one of those days when nothing seems to go right or the way you planned? Unexpected problems, interruptions, and delays keep cropping up and testing your patience until it finally reaches a point of frenzy and hysteria! There are days when I feel like I have been “victimized” by a series of interruptions that are beyond my control, and if you’re like me, you can easily become irritated, exasperated, and frustrated with these unwelcomed distractions, and react to the situations with impatience and irritation.

.....Frustrated, anxious, angry, nervous, annoyed, distracted, overwhelmed, worn out…..

How are these feelings and your reactions affecting and influencing your behavior and how you feel???

“May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer.” (Psalm 19:14)

Delays, distractions, and interruptions: those pesky irritations like a traffic jam, a long line at the check-out, a ringing telephone, an employee breaking your train of thought, etc., can pop up when you are least expecting them. Life in general seems designed some days to test our ability to deal with frustration, and we have a choice on how we respond and react to these aggravations. Frustration can lead to a poor and rash response and can cause us to be impatient with others and snap at them; treating them in “not so nice” ways. But how does God want us to react and respond to these interruptions that affect our schedules and patience?

"What we must do is to stop regarding unpleasant or unexpected things as interruptions of real life. The truth is that interruptions are real life, the real life that God sends us day by day. What we call our real life is but a phantom of our imagination." (C.S Lewis)

Perhaps God puts these frustrations and delays in our lives for a reason; they don’t have to be viewed as something that is taking away from our day, but rather opportunities that God is adding to our lives. Trials are His way of perfecting our patience and character. Interruptions are a real part of our life, and it takes constant prayer and awareness to behave well rather than react badly when facing an unwanted interruption in our schedule. We need to practice dealing with disruptions in a Godly way as they actually rise to meet us and pause before responding impatiently (which only leads to more stress, anger, and frustration!) We have the Lord’s strength to respond with patience, and we have a responsibility to react with complete trust, as He would have us react.

“For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage of decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God.” (Romans 8:20-21)


Linking up this week with Joan at The Beauty in His Grip