Holy Frustration

 Come near to God and he will come near to you.  James 4:8

I greatly enjoy the work of devotional writer Chris Tiegreen. In one of his works, he has two prayers in the same devotional entry for the day. He prays, "Please increase my capacity to experience You." A bit further on he prays, "Father, use any frustration in my life to draw me closer to You." I think most of us would readily pray the first prayer, but not very willingly the second. Yet, the truth of the matter is that drawing near to Him is never an easy way.

God is an infinitely holy God and we are a totally fallen race. We cannot come near Him because our sin separates us. This is why we so desperately needed the atoning work of Jesus Christ on the cross. His death and resurrection opened the door for us to come to Him through faith in the Person and work of Christ. The door is open, He desires with all His heart that we do come to Him, but each of us who have believed upon Him come with our own types of "baggage." Things in our heart, our mind, and our spirit that still erect a barrier between us.The Father is determined that our baggage and the barriers it creates be removed. This is a process, and the process can be difficult and painful. He uses many means to do this, and our personal frustrations can be His favorite way.

No one enjoys frustration and especially, we who call ourselves His likely hate it the most. Yet His record of dealing with His people, both corporately and individually is one of allowing great amounts of it into our experience. Israel was constantly frustrated along the way of entering into their Promised Land. They didn't like the many challenges God led them to and through. They often thought they had a better way, and freely let the Lord know it. They had been set free from the slavery in Egypt, but they still lived with the mindset of slaves and that mindset kept them far from the heart of the Father. He used all their frustrations and accompanying attitudes to do a work of purification upon them as a people. They could never come near to Him without it. Neither can we.

Think upon your own experiences with Him. It is not the easy places in the journey that brought you closer to Him. It was the place and places where you had to face your fear, your doubt, your sin, and admit your deep need for Him. It was in those places where you were desperate for Him to appear, to "show up," and make a way for you. In those times of frustration where you seemed thwarted and hindered on every side, it was then that you came to the end of your resources, the end of yourself,  and stepped into His and into Him. He used your frustrations to lead you into a deeper faith, a deeper place in Him.....if you allowed Him to. Have you allowed Him to?

Most of us do want to come near to Him. Most also want to hold on to our baggage. Jesus traveled light in His earthly ministry, He still does. He drew His disciples close to Himself as He did. He still does that too. They experienced a great deal of frustration along the way because they misunderstood so much of what He was doing, but they pressed on and into Him. They came near because in their hearts, they desired the same result that Tiegreen does, intimacy with Him. Don't waste your frustrations and problems. They're part of the pathway to His heart. Press on through them and ever deeper into Him.

Blessings,
Pastor O