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Frustration

 

I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God. (Romans 8:18-21)

          Global warming, pollution, wildfires, extreme weather, nasty-contagious diseases (and not-quite-nasty contagious diseases.) It doesn’t require much imagination to be added to our lives to come up with the idea that the world (not just its people) are frustrated. It isn’t by man’s hand that the world has been frustrated. It’s by God’s, and I think part of the reason for the frustration is that if nature were to respond in its full fury, neither mankind nor the world would survive.

          We were created to live in harmony with nature. That doesn’t mean we need to become hunt-gatherers or subsistence farmers, but the more ways we can find to live with nature, the more we can be blessed by blessing that which God has give us. That may mean something different for you than it does for the next person, but it’s been said that Christians should be the best conservationists.

          A second idea found in this passage is that if creation is frustrated, should it be a surprise if people are frustrated? Is it reasonable for people to expect to not be frustrated? We naturally seek to reduce frustration, but what if we were to find a way to find ways to work in concert with our natural “negative” emotions just as we should find ways to work in concert with nature? At the very least, since frustration is inevitable, should we not seek ways to deal with it in a positive manner instead of letting it ruin our days?

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