Ain't Always Easy

Where do you draw the line between being a polite, civil christian and a frustrated, annoyed mouth piece of God?  I know for me, sticking my foot in my mouth is a constant problem. Getting better at expressing my "pepper" with a "Salt" attitude is a goal worth working towards. If you struggle with a Salt & Pepper attitude then you know "it ain't easy".  What frustrates us so? Is it other people? Bad decisions? Uncertain circumstances? Or could it be the "C" Word?



  Control tends to be our issue. If we can get truly honest with ourselves, most will find that we are control freaks. Whether it's getting others to do things our way, circumstances to go easily, or even ministry to be a constant "open door" we find the most frustration when things don't go as we expect. 

Expectations is another "pepper" getter. In our need to control we find we set expectations before hand. When those expectations aren't met we become conflicted and the mustachey pizzeria smile turns to a 5 o'clock stubble frown with the "People's Eyebrow". 

It's in our most "peppery" moments that we can "feel" the most distant from God. We can boil over with anger, frustration, and conflict. Things aren't going our way and our way is the right way because we are "Men of God". We begin to "feel" justified in our "righteous indignation". We can stomp our feet, shake our fists, and blurt out all the religious jargon that makes us seem like we facing the worst atrocities in the world. 

Godisnowhere

 What's the perspective of the battles we fight? Do we see our moments of conflict and frustration as though "God-is-no-where" or do we see our moments as "God-is-now-here"? Things hardly go the way I want them too or the way I expect them to. With people that percentage would be even lower. All in all, my circumstances are not the battle field and the people are not my enemy. God isn't absent in the moments I feel "peppery". I find He is present whether "salt or pepper". 

  Ephesians 6:12 (NASB)

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.

Getting the right perspective on our struggle can ease the frustration and conflict we experience. Knowing that God is in control we can leave our expectations set on Him. We will find that even in the most trying moments where "Mr. Pepper" is on the verge of bursting loose we can be Salt in and out of season.