Where Frustration Comes From

Jas. 4:1-2. When our desires are self?centered the more frustrated our response will be when
those desires are denied, unfulfilled. James points out this problem stating that when
Christians "war and fight" it’s because they cannot get what they lust for in life. When major
demands are nothing more than the mere fulfillment of selfish desires---- and those demands
and desires are not met, we often react with a range of soul?shriveling emotions that include
anger and anxiety.
If our focus, in life, is purely on the accomplishment of God's purposes, there will be little anger in our response to obstacles and delays. That’s because we will understand that nothing can ultimately keep God's purposes from being achieved.
a. If, however, what we really want is the satisfaction of our own selfish desires, our reaction will be very different when someone, or something, stands between us and what we want. This response has properly been called "demandingness." It is a sure sign and symptom that our desires are centered on something other than God.
(A) Now, with that in mind, think about your fears and anxieties. Doesn’t our tendency
to worry stem from our fear that we're not going to get what we want or that our
goals are not going to be met?
And if our goals are self?centered to start with, doesn’t that make the likelihood of anxiety much higher than if our goals were God?centered and depended on His power for their accomplishment?
You need to think about these kinds of things if your purpose in life is to seek God. If your life is filled with either anger or anxiety, you need to reexamine the motivation and goals in your life. It’s probably time to ask yourself, “Is it really God whom I am seeking?
(2) You can never fool God. So why not just have the honesty to admit how often your negative emotions are the result of your frustrated self?seeking. Replace your “demandingness” with a sincere love for, and delight in God and see the difference.
(1) Henri Nouwin wrote: “ When my sense of self depends on what others say of me, anger is a quite natural reaction to a critical world. And when my sense of self depends on what I can acquire, greed flares up when my desires are frustrated. Thus greed and anger are the brother and sister of a false self, fabricated by the social compulsions of an unredeemed world.”
(2) Acts 20:32.

Spur - 03/ /03 pm