I keep journals. That provides opportunity to look backwards for signs of spiritual growth. In review I have realized that many of my current struggles are also past struggles. I have plateaued.
Most recently, while reading through pages of an old journal I discovered the frustration that stumbles me now is something I have been battling without victory. It seems I should have worked through this issue. But there has been little progress.
I mentioned my discovery to a friend the other day, telling her how surprised I was to find transformation was so slow in coming. She nodded, confirming I was not alone in this plight.
Then, miraculously a breakthrough came. At the time I wasn’t doing anything to address the problem. It was an “out of the blue” occurrence… a complete surprise. Tucked into a chapter of a book I was reading, I found a sentence that explained the problem. I get frustrated when my will is violated. Instead of surrendering a situation to God and responding “thy will be done,” I insist “my will be done.”1
This explanation fits every frustrating situation I encounter. When I can’t get Zoom to work correctly and I want to participate in an online class. When I get behind a slow-moving truck on Highway 395 and I want to drive faster but there is no safe place to pass. When the baristas at Starbucks are behind in their drinks and I want to finish my shopping and get home.
According to the Berkeley Well-Being Institute, “Frustration is an emotional reaction that occurs when an individual is prevented from achieving a goal or fulfilling a desire. It is often associated with feelings of anger, annoyance, and disappointment due to perceived resistance to one’s will or goals.”
The definition clearly identifies the problem, yet I had never noted the “perceived resistance to one’s will or goals” when reading an explanation for frustration.
So how do I deal with this negative emotion? Bible teacher Jenn Wilkins writes, “Both positive and negative emotions are a gift from God, not sinful in and of themselves. But they can quickly progress to being sinful if we do not manage them properly.” Cain’s anger eventually led to his brother’s murder. Why? His “problem was not mere anger, but anger nursed, anger indulged, anger gratified.”
My frustration always escalates because I do not take steps to manage it. If I look to a sovereign God, and surrender the situation with a silent prayer for God’s will to take precedence over mine I might keep frustration from festering into a temper tantrum.
This knowledge is new and untested, but it is a breakthrough. I do not know why it has taken so long for me to understand this as a surrender issue. It could be the Holy Spirit has revealed this before and I just didn’t get it. Or maybe the Holy Spirit has been waiting for the perfect time when I was ready to receive the information.
Either way I am encouraged to know God doesn’t give up on me when transformation is slow in coming. I think of this promise: “And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.”
Let’s Talk:
1-How has God been faithful in helping you overcome your battles with sin?
2-What are you struggling to conquer now that others might cover in prayer?
©2025 Susan Cort Johnson *All Rights Reserved
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