#8 How to Cope in a Frustrating Situation

As i referenced in my last post, i have been somewhat distracted lately by a medical issue. The truth? I completely busted my knee while enjoying a night of swing dancing. Oh, i could make many "conservative" Christian jokes about that one, i know. Being stuck at home reading John Acuff day after day doesn't help with the sarcastic thoughts either. But it's only been in the last week that i'm finally starting to let God speak to me and teach me through this annoyingly looooonng process. And i'm not kidding. I've been laid up, not even allowed to go to work, for almost a month now (yeah, it's THAT bad). Not that i'm trying to whine about my situation or anything, but context is needed in light of what God has been teaching me.

For those of you who don't know me, i'm a total doer. I can't stand sitting still for a long time. I like to stay busy and like to know i'm being useful. I'm a Martha in all sense of the word. So for me to have to sit still, with an ice pack and do nothing has been very discouraging to say the least. I was getting to the point where i was starting to feel REALLY sorry for myself when something happened:

I have this full-length mirror right by the side of my bed and attached to the mirror i have this poem that a friend gave me a few months ago (i'll put the poem at the end of this post). I was sitting on my bed, feeling pouty because of my lack of ability to do anything when the poem randomly "flew" off my mirror and landed by my bed. I honestly haven't read the poem since the night my friend gave it to me, but something made me read it when i picked it up and that's when it hit me: I might not be able to move very much, but God has some other ways to make me feel useful.

I started to realize that sometimes God allows me to get sick or hurt, makes me stop running around so much, so that i will just sit with him and listen, take time to REALLY pray for my family and friends, to REALLY study his word, and to re-adjust my focus. It's like i'm stuck on an extended Sabbath in a lot of ways. At first i didn't like that thought, i didn't want to do that, i wanted to be useful, i wanted to be DOING. But what God has taught me this week is that i AM, as long as i'm focusing and learning what he's trying to teach in the situation. I still don't think i've learnt what i need to through this experience, something tells me i have a bigger epiphany coming. And it's definitely not easy learning, it hurts and i've wanted to quit. But the same friend who gave me that poem en-grained a crazy, irritating, yet truthful "mantra" in my head: Stand up, Don't quit, Be strong, Move on.

Get off your butt, stop moping and listen for what God's will is. Don't give up because it's difficult, God's lessons are seldom easy, but they're totally worth it in the end. Be strong in your desire to follow God, don't let the frustrations swallow you. And keep moving in God's pleasing and perfect will.


So i'm slowly learning to cope in my frustration. I'm learning to say, "ok God, what are we doing/learning today?" and just waiting for the answer. This week has been a wild ride. We'll see where we go from here.


How do you cope in frustrating situations?


Btw, here's the poem that i was talking about:

Don't Quit (Author Unknown)

When things go wrong as they sometimes will,

When the road you're trudging seems all uphill,

When the funds are low, & the debts are high,

And you want to smile, but you have to sigh,

When care is pressing you down a bit -

Rest if you must, but

Don't you quit.

Success is failure turned inside out,

The silver tint of the clouds of doubt,

And you never can tell how close you are,

It may be near when it seems afar,

So, stick to the fight when you're hardest hit -

It's when things go wrong that

you mustn't quit.