irritation – Amy Linnea

Ugliness

Published on March 7, 2020June 11, 2023 by amylinneaLeave a comment

Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Galatians 5:24

We are so comfortable with our ugliness, aren’t we?

Our fleshly irritations.

Our selfish demands.

Our ‘higher than thou’ attitudes towards all else.

Our complaining when sacrificing.

Our responses when wronged.

Ugliness.

Does your ugliness repulse you?

When it rears it’s ugly head, do you embrace it?

Honestly, we usually do, don’t we.

We not only embrace it, but wear it proudly.

All boils down to flesh and sin.

Our flesh cries out selfishly.

But God wants us to respond differently.

It’s so hard, isn’t it?

“Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.”

Those words from Paul in Galatians 5 remind us to put away our flesh.

To literally kill those fleshly desires that are ugly.

Impossible apart from God.

Literally.

When we purposely put down our ugly flesh, God will fill us with His Spirit.

You remember His fruit: love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

Isn’t it so much better to reflect kindness than malice?

Gentleness instead of anger?

Love instead of hate?

Peace instead of war?

Folks, we can either react with the fruit of God or the flesh of ourselves.

One is lovely, the other is ugly.

Stop the next time you face an irritation.

Ask God to react through you.

Each time you do that, your ugliness will melt away.

I know, it’s not as fun as feeding your flesh.

But wouldn’t you rather please God than your sinful self?

Photos by Cain, Korpa, Nohassi, Boer, & Gonzalez on Unsplash

Expectations

Published on February 22, 2020June 11, 2023 by amylinneaLeave a comment

Good sense makes one slow to anger, and it is his glory to overlook an offense. Proverbs 19:11

Why live with chips?

Not talking about the potato or tortilla kind.

Chips on your shoulders.

Offense.

Irritation.

Failed expectations of life or others.

Why carry those around?

Shedding doom and gloom with every step?

Because you have a right.

You were wronged.

According to your expectation, you need some sort of justice.

And you’ll keep that chip on your shoulder until your wrong has been righted.

At least that’s what you think.

Is your wrong justified?

Maybe.

Possibly even definately.

But don’t move your unmet expectations into sin.

Because then YOU’RE in the wrong.

Sinning while offended looks like many things.

Silent treatment.

Snarky comments.

Eye rolling.

Refusing to participate in activities.

Withdrawing.

Or full fledged anger.

Those, my friends, are sin.

When you are wronged, your expectations are at fault.

If someone failed to meet your expected needs, forgive.

If someone forgets an important date, forgive.

If heated words are offered in exchange for your questions, forgive.

When you allow God to free you from keeping the offense, you are set free.

Literally.

The feeling of freedom far surpasses the prison of someone’s offense.

Live within the forgivness of God.

Extend your grace from God to others.

Ask God to solve your situations of doubt.

Instead of living in fantasy land of perfectly fulfilled expectations, live in the grace of God.

Aligning your expectations to God’s instead.

God will ALWAYS meet your expectations of Him.

And in fact, He’ll far surpass them.

Everytime.

Photos by Dawid Zawiła and Ian Schneider on Unsplash

Attitude

Published on June 30, 2018June 9, 2023 by amylinneaLeave a comment

I will praise you, Lord, with all my heart; I will tell of all the marvelous things you have done. Psalm 9:1

You will never NOT have trouble.

Let me say that another way.

There will always be something.

Some irritation somewhere.

Why?

Because nothing is always perfect.

Sounds like a downer, doesn’t it?

Sorry!

Just bringing us into reality, folks.

Taking our heads out of the clouds.

Up from burrowing in the sand.

What are some of life’s irritations, you ask?

Oh my, the list is endless.

Cleaning up after other people.

(Who am I kidding: sometimes it’s irritating to clean up after myself! Where’s that maid?)

Not finding what you need at a store.

Leaky faucets.

Unnecessary attitude from ungrateful children.

Going to someone else’s favorite restaurant.

Mosquito bites.

The fact that sugar is bad for you, yet it tastes so amazing in food!

Ants crawling on my kitchen floor.

Horrid influences encroaching on loved ones.

Traffic.

Jesus said we would have trouble in this life.

But to take heart, because He has overcome the world.

He has overcome absolutely everything.

Every irritation.

Every issue.

All of it.

So, what does He ask of us to do in spite of any and all irritations?

To trust Him.

To stay focused on what is important.

How one reacts to daily, even momentary irritation reflects to others your relationship with God.

Woah.

How you react to things that do not go your way will either point people to God or away from Him.

Difficult, I know.

Fully aware.

Just start thinking about that.

When your buttons are pushed, does your attitude reflect God?

Look to Jesus for inspiration.

He was irritated, I’m sure, beyond belief on earth.

Think about that.

Walking around with us, He knew what every person should have been doing to increase life’s satisfaction.

But He left us to our own choices.

He never let any earthly irritation mar the face of God.

Ever get hangry?

Jesus was many times.

That’s an incredible irritation.

Purpose to reflect Jesus in all that you do.

And when you fail, keep trying.

Ask God to help you.

He will and it will get easier and easier to succeed.

Just don’t hand me a sad pizza when I’m hangry.

Because God will not be shining through my face if you do. 🙂

Oh, ok, I’ll work on it too…!

Photos by Clem Onojeghuo ,Ruth Caron ,Anton Darius | @theSollers , Michał Kubalczyk , & Álvaro SF on Unsplash

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