Frustration

Have you ever been frustrated? Here is the definition and it may hit you right between the eyes, and if it does, I relate. Frustration (def) - the feeling of being upset or annoyed, especially because of inability to change or achieve something. For whatever reason, I am a mover and shaker. I tend to stay focused on completing this thing to get to the next thing. I want to be a great finisher and then.....next. But, what if God is the one frustrating me to

the point of movement? We are not to be "static" and non moving, because the Holy Spiirt's work in our life is very "fluid." The scripture "be still and know that I am the Lord" is actually an indictment against inactivity and not a reason for it. We "know" God and sometimes forget His basic tenets, and one of them is to be hot or cold. The Laodicean church in Revelation was the total opposite. They were happy just staying in one place and "vegging." Revelation 3:¹⁵ “I know all the things you do, that you are neither hot nor cold. I wish that you were one or the other! ¹⁶ But since you are like lukewarm water, neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth! ¹⁷ You say, ‘I am rich. I have everything I want. I don’t need a thing!’ And you don’t realize that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked. ¹⁸ So I advise you to buy gold from me—gold that has been purified by fire. Then you will be rich. Also buy white garments from me so you will not be shamed by your nakedness, and ointment for your eyes so you will be able to see. ¹⁹ I correct and discipline everyone I love. So be diligent and turn from your indifference. JUST DO SOMETHING!!

If you are not a driven person, then you will have to readjust your whole life and your whole way of living to line up with the message of Jesus to this church in Laodicea. We sometimes want a "little bit of dis and a little bit of dat" but God commands a firm choice, and that choice must be Him as He stands at the door of our life and "knocks." God is all about "knocking" and one of His awesome promises that involves "knocking" is found in Matthew 7:⁷ “Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. ⁸ For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened. This is where WE knock and God faithfully opens the door, so our knocking is heard by Him and He enables us to have that heart of focus and vision. Jesus didn't just say knock once, and that is it. Jesus said to keep on knocking, which leads us to realize that desire to keep moving forward is ongoing and God is leading the way.

God is faithful to open the door to more and more great adventures throughout our life and in that personal vision we are led by the Holy Spirit and enabled to do each and every one of those things God calls us to do. We are to be active and activity comes with a life price tag, and it is identified as taking up our cross, per the words of Jesus in Luke 9:²³ Then he said to the crowd, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross daily, and follow me. The gas God has put in my tank is "high test" and it cost Him a lot to pay for that gas, so I shouldn't wasted it on nonresponsive living, but live with a vision and a calling that is upfront and on task. If I have frustration it is God-induced and the Holy Spirit is "stirring the pot." Lukewarm ain't gonna get it and firm focused commitment is the standard so keep in mind, if you aim at nothing, you will hit it every time, but what is accomplished?

In a message to the church in Sardis, Jesus said the following Revelation 3:⁶ “Anyone with ears to hear must listen to the Spirit and understand what he is saying to the churches. Pray that churches are listening and responding accordingly with a fixed focus on Jesus and His Word!! Feel the frustraion and respond to the command of God to "keep on knocking" and God will answer the door and invite you in to what He is doing.

The Pilgrimage Continues,

David Warren