Psalm 55:22 (CSB)
Cast your burden on the Lord, and he will sustain you; he will never allow the righteous to be shaken.
Do you ever have days where you find yourself getting easily irritated? Are there days when it doesn't matter how well things go because you're simply not yourself? When I was a student at Bible College, there was one day when I wasn't feeling well. I wasn't sick, but I was just extremely exhausted. On this particular day, I started realizing I wasn’t doing too well when one of my classmates sitting behind me in class started eating ice. It wasn't that he was just eating ice; it seemed as if he was grinding boulders back there.
Here I am in Bible College learning about Christian leadership and character, and I couldn’t focus because it sounded like my brother in Christ behind me was chewing his way out of an igloo from the inside! As I'm bouncing all over the back of the struggle bus, suddenly the phone of someone sitting in my row begins to vibrate, and it's vibrating so hard that it's shaking the table! And whoever’s phone is vibrating, they don’t even pick it up and do anything with it—they just let it vibrate on and on. Finally, I start cutting my eyes down both sides of the table to see who is letting their phone disturb everyone in my row. And everyone just looks back at me and smiles—a friendly, peaceful smile. I’m thinking, "Isn’t this annoying anyone else? Why am I the only one who finds this annoying? Well, I guess they’re all just too saved to get agitated at someone’s phone." When the phone finally stops ringing, I look down and see my phone lit up with a missed call notification. Yeah, it was my phone ringing.
When we find ourselves easily getting frustrated, that's the warning light going off in our spiritual lives, indicating something is off. Just like you have warning lights on the dashboard of your car, your emotions can serve as warning lights for your spiritual life. The number one problem I was struggling with on this particular day was a lack of prayer. I was not experiencing 1 Thessalonians 5:16–18 (CSB), “Rejoice always, pray constantly, give thanks in everything; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”
The enemy is a master at using our exhaustion and frustration to create abnormal agitation in our hearts towards other people. He will tempt us to make mountains out of molehills and turn the smallest annoyances into major crises.
The classmate sitting behind me crunching on his ice and my vibrating phone are ridiculously small things. But in my fatigue, frustration, and lack of prayer, they were causing my Kingdom joy to be crushed. I was hyper focused on the small disturbances while totally ignoring the goodness of God in my life.
Look at what the Bible tells us to do when normal frustrations become overwhelming irritants. Philippians 4:6–7 (NET), “Do not be anxious about anything. Instead, in every situation, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, tell your requests to God. And the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.”
Three rules from 1 Thessalonians 5:16–18 on how to deal with overwhelming irritations
First, don't be anxious about anything, especially the small, insignificant stuff. Instead of letting the small, trivial annoyances steal your peace, pray about them. Love, joy, peace, and patience are four of the nine attributes of the Holy Spirit listed in Galatians 5:22–23. Pray for the Fruit of the Holy Spirit to override your emotions when you see the warning lights start flashing.
Secondly, give thanks in everything. Yes, this includes the moments when you find yourself bouncing around on the back of the struggle bus. When you discipline yourself to do this, it will shift your focus from the irritations of this world to the goodness of God. When you are focused on the goodness of God regardless of your circumstances, it gives room for the transforming work of the Holy Spirit to change your attitude.
Lastly, give room for God's peace to guard your heart and mind in Christ Jesus. When the peace of God is guarding your heart and mind, it doesn't matter what the irritation is or how long it continues. When God's peace is guarding your heart and mind, nothing in this world can steal your peace. Because God's peace is found in His Kingdom. This is another reason why we should seek first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness (Matt. 6:33).
Remember, when you find yourself unreasonably agitated and frustrated, it's the warning lights flashing that your heart and mind have moved out of the Kingdom of God and into the Kingdom of this world. It's time to start praying and relocating your focus back to the Kingdom of God. So, take a breath, pray, and ask for the peace of God to rule your mind and heart in all circumstances, especially the small and seemingly insignificant ones.