Dealing With Frustration

Emotions can easily be tucked away and forgotten. They are there but rarely acknowledged. I tend to mask my feelings and mask my emotions. I'd rather deny them then confront them. But today I am tackling an emotion many of us deal with. An emotion I deal with on a daily basis.

Frustration.

Two weeks ago at my small group, I was answering the question: "What emotion have you been experiencing lately."

And without hesitation, I answered: frustration.
Things just haven't been transpiring how and when I want them to. I have been stuck in this same ole' dry season for what seems like years. I sometimes feel as though God doesn't hear my cries. I have grown tired and weary of waiting. And I know I am not the only one who feels like this.

This past weekend, I went on a leadership retreat in the mountains. We had an amazing worship session that incorporated prophetic declarations. I remember someone saying: "God release whatever it is we have been believing You for and remove any frustration we may have." Those words touched my soul in such a powerful way. I realized that I felt frustrated because I felt as though God was holding back on me. But I never considered that I may have been the one holding back on God.

The other day I was taking a bubble bath and the bath bomb I used had a "fortune" inside that reads: "Frustration is an essential part of success." I cannot be who God calls me to be if I do not experience some type of frustration. And certainly not with God but rather with myself. Frustrated with how I have handled things and how I have allowed myself to be complacent. Because my frustration is a byproduct of my own actions or lack thereof.

As if God wasn't already talking to me enough, when I returned to work this past Monday I noticed one of the thousands post-its on my desk. It was a quote from a few months ago when I watched a sermon video by Steven Furtick and it says: "Favor can flow from frustration." It is quite clear that frustration is not necessarily a negative emotion. God uses our frustration to elevate us and to move us from one season to another. To release us from the things that are holding us back and to advance us into our calling.

I want to encourage you that if you are experiencing frustration in any aspect of your life, don't deny it. Learn how to properly express your frustration and continue facing it until you are at a place of true contentment.

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