Walking in Peace

Feelings of frustration, annoyance and anger can so easily surface when people do not do what we want them to do or when things do not go as planned. Just this weekend for the third weekend in a row I was left to clean the house and prep for the busy week ahead. As a working mom I find this to be the sink hole of frustration, bitterness, resentment and anger.

With a paper due by midnight, a pile of clothes to be folded and less than picked up house I decided to focus on writing and homework. Normally on days like this I would skip church which sadly only adds to my feelings of frustration. Instead last night with only one and a half pages out of the five due at midnight I closed my computer and got ready for church.

The house in chaos and my homework not done brought me to church with just the right heart to worship and praise God. In the midst of the chaos it is so easy to stay stuck in our emotions. Walking away and putting connection first last night brought me to my knees in worship and praise of how great our God is… He sees us in the midst of struggle, impatience and frustration. He wants us to pause and give Him more than a few moments of our lives.

As we walked out of church I felt renewed and my mind was clear of all those feelings I left at home. I was able to come back to my homework with a clear mind, heart and soul. I finished my paper with two minutes to spare and I opened my bible to read. I was reminded that our battle is NOT against things of this world and I was reminded to put on the full armor of The Lord!

You see we really don’t need to get frustrated about not getting help. If our spouses were injured or disabled we would learn to joyfully serve them but because they are able bodied we think things need to be “fair”. What is fair? Lets be honest for me I actually don’t mind clearing the house alone it’s having my husband sit relaxing in His recliner while I clean that is the problem so I need to find a solution or alternative to cleaning on football Sunday!!

Many times what we are frustrated and angry about is not the same thing we are yelling or complaining about so when our emotions are taking over we need to find a quiet place; hide in the closet or bathroom and pray for peace, guidance and clarity. Once we can gain control of our emotions we can learn to react better to the situations as they jump at us because let’s be honest the Devil is good at deception. I know I also need to keep my expectations in check!! If I need help I need to ask for help before I am boiling over. My husband is not a mind reader.

Life is too short to spend it frustrated about the small stuff.

Let’s walk in joy, peace and self-control.