Are you irritated? Are things just not going your way, and you are frustrated about it? The car won’t start. Taxes and groceries are higher than you thought. Your friend didn’t reply to your phone call or text. Your computer stalled again. You are stuck in traffic. Your husband or wife or children are doing annoying things. The list of irritations and vexations goes on daily. You cannot live in this world without feeling irritated.
Jesus Got Irritated, Too, and Probably Still Does!
My friends, you are not alone! Even Jesus Christ, when He lived on earth as a sinless man, got irritated! He is “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and forever” according to Hebrews 13:8 (King James Version). So, He must still get irritated, even being glorified in heaven!
To be irritated itself is not sinful. When Jesus was on earth, He was transfigured into a preview of His glory on a mountaintop for His closest disciples Peter, James, and John to see! (Wow, wish we were invited! But we will see glorified Jesus one day in heaven!) After such glory, He descended into the valley and found a situation where His other disciples could not cast out a demon from a boy. His exasperated reply in Matthew 17:17 (New American Standard Bible) was, “And Jesus answered and said, you unbelieving and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring him here to Me.” Some of you may feel uncomfortable with Jesus saying such a thing. I find great encouragement from this verse when I am exasperated and frustrated with people and circumstances! Jesus understands how I feel! Jesus understands how you feel! Do you ever feel like you are on a mountaintop with God experiencing His glory alone or in church; and then right after that, Boom! Some irritating circumstance faces you! Jesus understands your feelings of irritation!
When Jesus was in the garden of Gethsemane, about to agonize over His impending death on the cross, He pleaded with His closest three disciples, Peter, James, and John, to pray with Him and went a little way away from them. After wrestling in prayer with the Father’s will for Him to go to the cross, probably His biggest struggle yet on earth, He went back to them. Matthew 26:40 (King James Version) reports what He found. “And He cometh unto the disciples, and findeth them asleep, and saith unto Peter, What, could ye not watch with me one hour?” His closest disciples weren’t praying with Him in such a great hour of His need! They were sleeping for sorrow! Jesus had to wake them up and gently rebuke them! Here is another example of Jesus’ feeling irritated.
We Can Come Boldly to the Throne of Grace to Help with Irritations!
Are you irritated? Hebrews 4:14-16 tells us the amazing news, “Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold our profession. For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” As we like to say in the United States, Jesus has “been there and done that.” He understands you completely and has compassion! He has been irritated like you and me, and He is the perfect qualified High Priest at the throne of grace in heaven to help you! We can come boldly in prayer to Him at His throne of grace to receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need! His throne of grace is available for any need we have, not just irritation! Hallelujah!
You may find you are less irritated when God gives you grace to handle annoying circumstances! Irritations can be worse with chemical imbalances in our bodies as well as eating foods to which we are allergic. So, we can pray for physical healing from these conditions and seek medical assistance if God leads and enables us to. Taking supplements for healthy intestines may help you, as well, not to overreact to vexing situations! I have found Shaklee B-Complex extremely helpful for irritability. I take 4 with breakfast and 4 with lunch. That’s what works for me. It lengthens my “fuse”! (These are water-soluble, so I don’t overdose.) Plexus products have been very helpful for me to correct my intestines, which have improved my weight, energy, and mood. If you would like to know more about either of these supplements, send me an email on my Contact page. (The link is below.)
Jesus Is Praying for You!
Are you irritated? Jesus is praying for you! God told me this one time when I saw a wonderful painting of Jesus at my friend’s house! It meant so much to me because I was very depressed at that time! I got the poster of that painting, and it is hanging in my living room!
Romans 8:34 tells us: “Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.” Jesus Christ died and rose again from the dead! No one can condemn us if we trust in Him, because He is interceding for us! Intercession means He is praying for His and our Heavenly Father to help us with mercy, grace, and forgiveness! He also is praying for our circumstances to change, but also that the Heavenly Father will use our circumstances to change us and make us more holy!
Hebrews 7:25 gives us another confirmation of Jesus’ praying for each of us who have given our lives to Him for Him to save us from the wrath of God! It says, “Wherefore He is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by Him, seeing He ever liveth to make intercession for them.” Jesus will save you to the uttermost! In John 17:9-10, Jesus’ precious prayer is recorded, “I pray for them [His disciples]: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given Me; for they are Thine, and all Mine are Thine, and Thine are Mine; and I am glorified in them.” Have you prayed for Jesus to save you from the wrath of God? If so, Jesus is praying for you!
Have You Not Prayed for Jesus to Save You from the Wrath of God?
Have you not prayed for Jesus to save you from the wrath of God? You can pray right now if you believe that Jesus died on a cross about 2,000 years ago and that He was raised back to life for the forgiveness of the wrongs you have committed! You can pray a simple prayer like this: “Lord Jesus, I believe You died on a cross to pay the penalty for the wrongs I have done, and that the Father raised You back to life again. I ask You to come into my heart. Please wash me clean with the blood of Jesus shed on the cross. I choose to live for You from this day forward. Amen.” If you prayed that or something similar and believe it, You, my friend, are now saved from the wrath of God! You will go to heaven when you die! Get a Bible and start reading it every day. You might want to start in the New Testament beginning with the book of Matthew and read to Revelation. Then you can read the Old Testament, starting in Genesis at the very beginning. When you finish, keep reading it every day of your life as you are able. Find a good Bible-believing church where you can grow in your new faith! Get water baptized to show you are living for Jesus and tell others about Jesus. Congratulations, and welcome to the Body of Christ!!! All of heaven is rejoicing over you!!! Send me an email on my Contact page and let me know if you just prayed this prayer or something similar! I would love to pray for you! Now Jesus is praying for you, including when you are irritated!
Irritations Have a Right to Happen
Are you irritated? When irritating things happen to us, we have a tendency to feel or even say, “This isn’t fair! This doesn’t have a right to happen! I’m mad! [Angry.] This isn’t going to happen again!” My friends, these irritating things actually do have a right to happen! God is using them for our good! I have shared this verse before, but it bears repeating. Romans 8:28 tells us, “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose.” We need to give our anger and control to God and ask Him to take them away. We need to repent of trying to act like God, which none of us are. Only the Heavenly Father, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit are and ever will be God! Isaiah 45:5-6 says, “I am the LORD, and there is none else, there is no God beside Me. I girded thee, though that has not known me: That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside Me. I am the LORD, and there is none else.” God is our Lord and has the right to choose the circumstances and trials that come our way! As we read above, He will be right there with us to help us out and deliver us!
God Uses Irritations to Shape Our Characters
You see, God does not enjoy afflicting us and allowing inconveniences to come our way. However, He will use them to shape our characters to be more like Jesus! First Peter 1:3-9 gives us some comforting explanation why God allows us to suffer inconveniences and gives us wonderful reasons to rejoice about it! There it is written:
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to His abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations: That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ: Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see Him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory: Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.
These verses tell us the incredible news that God saved us because of His abundant mercy and has given us a lively hope by Jesus’ resurrection from the dead! We are promised an incorruptible, undefiled inheritance that will not fade away that is reserved in heaven for us! God keeps us by His power through all our trials so that our faith, more precious than perishable gold, though it is tried with fiery circumstances, will be found unto praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ! That would refer to His return as described in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 where He comes back to the clouds to rapture His Church, the Body of Christ, to Himself and take us to heaven!!! Though we haven’t yet seen Jesus yet, we love Him and believe in Him and our awesome destiny! For this reason, we can rejoice with unspeakable joy which is full of glory and receive the reward of our faith, the salvation of our souls! Our souls are comprised of our minds, wills, and emotions. God is using our irritating circumstances to save our souls!
The Fruit of the Spirit
What do saved souls look like? Galatians 5;22-23 (New International Version) gives us a clue: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance [self-control]: against such there is no law.” Are you irritated? God is using our irritating and other bothersome circumstances to develop in us the fruit of the Spirit, which is love, joy, peace, longsuffering (patience), gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and self-control!
Are you irritated? Some people when irritated snap in anger at others, say hurtful things, and may even become abusive! God does not want us to snap in anger at those around us when we are irritated! They don’t want you to snap at them, either! Let us pray for God to develop in us the fruit of the Spirit listed above! Self-control is a big part of what we can learn when we are tempted to snap at someone! Before snapping, we can stop and pray out loud or in our heads, “Lord, please help me not to explode in anger! Please give me self-control and patience!” He will do that, although it may not happen all at once. If we have already snapped or exploded at someone, we need to ask God to forgive us and to help us not to do it again! Then we need to apologize to that person, if possible! God can use apologies to work miracles in mending our broken relationships!
Proverbs 16:32 says, “He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city.” The Christian Standard Bible (CSB) this verse this way, “Patience is better than power, and controlling one’s emotions than capturing a city.” Wow, when you pray and God helps you to be slow to anger and to rule your spirit, or control your irritated or angry emotions, you will be stronger than mighty men and will accomplish more than conquering a city! Think of it! Working out and being in the army is good, but patience and self-control are even better!
If We Suffer, We Will Reign with Him!
Are you irritated? Second Timothy 2:12a tells us the amazing news, “If we suffer, we shall also reign with Him [Jesus]…” The other half of the verse gives us this sober warning, “If we deny Him [Jesus], He also will deny us.” If you suffer irritations with the fruit of the Spirit, godly character, as well as suffer persecutions, then you will reign with Jesus in the next age and forever!!! Hallelujah!!! These irritations are worth going through for such a glorious destiny! On the other hand, let us not deny Jesus as our Savior, or else He will deny us entrance into heaven! If we are alive, we have time to repent right now and get right with God!
God Will One Day Make Us Perfect in Heaven!
In Song of Solomon 4:7, Solomon, a type of Jesus, tells his Shulamite bride, a type of us believers, “Thou art all fair, my love; there is no spot in thee.” Wow, friends! The purpose of our irritating trials, any trials, is to purify our characters until we are free of spiritual and soulish blemishes, or spots! The Holy Spirit is making us beautiful in character for Jesus, our heavenly Bridegroom! One day in heaven, He will speak these unspeakably invigorating words over each of us believers: “You are totally beautiful, My love! There is no spot in you!” Do you cry out for God to make you pure like that? I do! I want nothing more than God’s approval! Do you feel the same way?
We see a verse with the similar idea in Ephesians 5:25-27:
Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to Himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.
Did you get that? Jesus loves each of us believers in Him like a husband loves and cherishes his wife! He gave up His life for us on the cross so that we could be holy! He is cleansing us with the Word of God, the Bible, as if washing us with water, so that He can present us to Himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle, or any other blemish, spot! He is going to make us holy and blameless! If you are tired of failing God when you get irritated or at any other time, Jesus promises here that He is going to make us perfect as His Bride by the time we reach heaven! This is incredibly good news! Glory be to God! Take heart, my friends!
Our sufferings have a purpose to purify us! When we get irritated, it gives us practice living in the Spirit instead of giving into tantrums, even in our attitude, if not outwardly. We learn to walk by faith and to bear the fruit of the Spirit!
What Do We Do When We Get Irritated? Rejoice!
Are you irritated? We all get irritated. What do we do when those irritations come our way every day? Philippians 4:4-7 offers us some helpful advice:
Rejoice in the Lord always: and again I say, Rejoice. Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand. Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
We are told twice to rejoice in the Lord always! God really intends for us to do this as He puts special emphasis on it! We are told to let our moderation be known to all men. Moderation is defined in Strong’s Concordance of the Bible (see bibliography below) as “appropriate, i.e. (by impl. [implication]) mild:–gentle, moderation, patient.” God wants us to act and speak appropriately, mildly (not with outbursts of anger), moderately, and patiently. The reason we are given for showing moderation, appropriate, mild, gentle, and patient behavior, is that “The Lord is at hand.” The Lord is near and is watching. Jesus is recording our good deeds and our bad ones. Those bad deeds we repent of will be erased out of the record! Hallelujah! Proverbs 9:10 tells us, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” Jesus not only loves us immensely, but He will also judge every human. We ought to fear, or reverence and respect, Him as He will be judging us based on our works.
Romans 5:19-21 (New International Version of the Bible) says:
But the acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery [New American Standard Bible (NASB) says “indecent behavior”]; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage [NASB says “outburst of anger”], selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.
God does not want us to live in the flesh, or it could cost us reigning with Jesus in His kingdom if we don’t repent!
Jesus Will Judge Every Human!
Second Corinthians 5:9-11 says,
Therefore we make it our aim, whether present or absent, to be well pleasing to Him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad. Knowing, therefore, the terror of the Lord, we persuade men; but we are well known to God, and I also trust are well known in your consciences.”
Be Anxious About Nothing
Are you irritated? Continuing the explanation of Philippians 4:4-7 above, we are told to be careful for nothing. Strong’s defines this as “to be anxious about….” God doesn’t want us to be anxious about anything, including about that which irritates us. Again, we are told, “…but in everything by prayer and supplications with thanksgiving let your requests be known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” God doesn’t want us to worry and stress about anything. He just wants us to pray and ask Him (with supplications) our requests through prayer, offering thanksgiving to Him! When we do, the peace of God, which will be the means by which we receive understanding of Him and the Bible and even insight into our problems, will keep our hearts and minds through Christ Jesus from stressing out! Amen!
Psalm 118:24 tells us, “This is the day that the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.” God wants us to rejoice in Him every day, no matter what kind of day we are having, no matter what irritating or disturbing trials come our way!
Let the Peace of God Rule in Your Heart
Colossians 3:15-17 advises us, “And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by Him.
Are you irritated? We are told to let the peace of God rule in our hearts. That is a delightful command! The whole Body of Christ is called in one Body to let peace rule in our hearts. We are advised here to be thankful. Also, we are told to let the word of Christ dwell in us richly in all wisdom. That comes from diligently reading and studying the Bible. It may also include materials that help us understand correctly the Bible. When we have the Word of Christ dwelling richly in our hearts, we can teach and admonish one another in psalms (praise and worship songs from the book of Psalms in the Bible), hymns, and spiritual songs. We are to sing with grace in our hearts to the Lord. And whatever we do or say, we are to do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father as Jesus enables us to! Singing to God or listening to godly, anointed music is a great way to feel less agitated when you are irritated!
Offer God the Sacrifice of Praise
Are you irritated? A similar admonition is found in Hebrews 13:15: “By Him [Jesus] therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to His name.” It is easy to praise God when things are going our way! Hallelujah! But when we are irritated, then we must offer God a sacrifice of praise. We are told to offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, even when irritating things are happening! It feels like a sacrifice because our flesh nature would rather complain. Let us praise God always, no matter what kind of day we are having!
So, the car won’t start. Praise God that you have a car, and that God knows you need transportation and will provide a solution. When the groceries and taxes are higher than you want, thank God that there are grocery stores and markets to buy from. Thank Him in faith that He will make a way to pay the taxes. Thank Him for a government so there isn’t anarchy. When your friend didn’t reply to your phone call or text, praise God that you have a friend! When your computer stalls again, thank God that you have a computer and internet service at all! When you are stuck in traffic, thank God that there are roads! When your husband, wife, or children are irritating you, thank God that they are still alive and still around you!
Look at the proverbial “half-full glass” instead of focusing on the “half-empty glass”! (The glass is one and the same with different perspectives describing it.) Giving praise to God not only pleases Him, but it also helps to adjust our frustrated attitudes and will help to restore our joy! It will also make us more pleasant for others to be around!
Make it your life’s aim to please this wonderful God who loves you so very much and has done so very much to save you and help you! And thank God that there won’t be any irritations in heaven!!!
Word definitions taken from: Strong, James, S.T.D., L.L.D. Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance Of The Bible. Royal Publishers, Inc., Nashville, Tennessee 37203.
Here is a link to my Contact page to tell me if you prayed for Jesus to save you as you read it, to comment, to ask for prayer, or to inquire more information about Shaklee and Plexus nutritional supplements:
Contact – Bride Of Jesus Ministry
If you would like to subscribe to this blog and are at least 18 years old, go to my home page and fill out the short form. You will receive an email from me each time I post a new blog. Be sure to check your junk mail folder in case my email ends up there! Mine always does, ha ha! Here is a link to the home page. Scroll down to see the short Subscribe To My Blog form:
Home – Bride Of Jesus Ministry
I am so happy to share this song I love so much! It has special significance to me because the Christian Rythm and Blues (R&B) singers Lisa, Andrea, and Joi, now called Danielle, were in my Sunday school class years ago when they were children, and I was 21 years old! I even sang a duet with Joi/Danielle at church! I went to their house once! This group of sisters is called Out of Eden. God touches my heart deeply through this song, and I pray He will touch your heart deeply through it also! Lisa wrote this precious song! They recorded six albums and are getting ready to record more! Yay!
This song blesses me to the point of tears! May God encourage your heart with this song “The Blessing” from Kari Jobe and her husband, Cody Carnes, with Elevation Worship: