Some days are hardly worth getting out of bed. Doesn’t have to be anything dire; just the never-ending drip of frustration.
These past two weeks brought a flood of computer glitches that kept me tight with techies. Nail down one thing, another pops up. How do you enable Facebook cookies? Edible cookies I know, but not THAT sort! Finally found a tech who could fix it—but then got hung up on this very blog!
Tech problems, though, are minor, next to the more serious issues of life. Today I’m mourning the death of a friend whose gift of laughter lifted my soul. Others are dealing with debilitating pain, relational ruptures, financial woes. To say nothing of people around the world who fear death simply because they are Christian.
How do we function in the face of ongoing emotional pressure?
I RESORT TO TEARS–A LOT.
Considering that I cry while worshiping God or while reading (OR writing) emotional segments in books, it seems only natural to express frustration through tears. I have a convenient crying rock in the garden, and after watering it a few minutes, I start plugging in folk wisdom:
~Do the next thing.
~Put one foot in front of the other.
~Persevere
~Little by little.
~Inch by inch.
~Piece by piece.
~Keep on truckin’. 
Then this song by Rich Mullins:
Oh God, You are my God
And I will ever praise You
Oh God, You are my God
And I will ever praise You
I will seek You in the morning
And I will learn to walk in Your ways
And step by step, You’ll lead me
And I will follow You all of my days
Discouragement, like the poor, we have always with us. But because our Lord knows and loves us and holds our umbrellas, we do not despair.
I WILL seek You in the morning
And I WILL learn to walk in Your ways
And STEP BY STEP, you’ll lead me
And I WILL follow You all of my days
What moments in your life have you needed this step-by-step approach? Doesn’t have to be big stuff. It’s the little puddles that get you. Let me know. I LOVE hearing your stories! egus@me.com
Hi, Ellie,
Thanks for sharing. I love that song. It had not come to my memory recently so thanks for reminding me of it. My frustrations in the past have included the computer and I am sure I will have more in the future just because I use it so much for what I do. Right now I am having to put one foot in front of the other just to get myself ready to leave for Kenya on June 14. There are two big things in my life right now and neither one can I complete before leaving. One is that my house has been so neglected on the cleaning venue for so long that the Board of Health might soon file a complaint; and the other is that my office is so full of paper work and items for Africa that I can hardly move. It is overwhelming and makes me want to just bury my head in the sand like an ostrich and pretend that everything is fine. My third area of frustration is that I am not getting younger and it seems to takes more energy and longer to do the things that need to be done. Not that I ever was a very neat person or really speedy, but endurance, in my memory, was much better years ago. This all to say that I found your blog about your woes very encouraging as the words to the song say, “step by step” and “keep trucking” give me hope. God directs our steps even when things are not as we would want them. I am working on the end of Chapter 2 in 1 Peter but have less and less time to learn new verses as it takes longer and longer to review. However, Dec 31 is my goal so I keep plugging away. I try to say it at night after I crawl in bed and turn out the light. The problem is that I can get through about the first 4 verses of Chapter 1 and I am asleep. Looking forward to seeing you at Rumney. I liked your idea of a crying rock or I might call it a prayer rock. Again, thanks for sharing. Anne
Yup. It’s definitely the “little” things. They tell us that life is ALL “little things”, but they are wrong. I think life is lots of very important things, because the choices we make about those things have a cumulative impact upon our lives.
I’m thinking not only about good or bad decisions, but about the meaning we attach to what happens to us. One person decides to “Keep On Trucking’!” (Love the graphics, Ellie), and because she continues in that mode, she comes out on top more often than not, and believes that she will continue to handle life. She is competent (while not entirely superhuman).
Another person may see her defeats as evidence that life is out to get her, and decides that no matter what she does, she can’t win: A self-fulfilling prophecy in the end.
But it ain’t over ’til it’s over. Right? My favorite phrase in the Bible, I think, is “BUT GOD…”
“But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ — by grace you have been saved.” (Ephesians 2:4–5) There are lots of “But God”s to find in the Word. Makes my heart smile, even in great discouragement.
A favorite C.S.Lewis quote: “No amount of falls will really undo us if we keep on picking ourselves up each time. We shall of course be very muddy and tattered children by the time we reach home. But the bathrooms are all ready, the towels put out, and the clean clothes are in the airing cupboard. The only fatal thing is to lose one’s temper and give it up…”
– C.S. Lewis, in a letter to Mary Neylan, January 20, 1942
I’ll take on computers anytime, but my frustration comes in my lack of writing abilities.