Specks and Planks

You are here

Specks and Planks

Login or Create an Account

With a UCG.org account you will be able to save items to read and study later!

Sign In | Sign Up

×

Lately, I have been getting annoyed with others. Well, I should say, as a human, I often find myself annoyed with others. The recent change, though, is my immediate thought after I feel the sense of irritation or anger: Do I do that, too?

In my teenage and young adult years, when I felt like I could conquer the world, I would find myself upset over a situation or at a person all too quickly. My lips would start bursting forth with complaints and degrading utterances. I was neither slow to anger nor slow to speak; rather, I would be the first in line to lodge a grievance (Prov. 14:29). Some would argue that is the trouble and consistency of my generation, I contend that it is part of my general personality and human nature.

As God continues to mold me, the surprise of His intervention takes my breath away. While I am certainly not “cured” of my quick mouth or fire-branding tongue, I do see how God fills my mind with thoughts to force me to pause. The first occurrence when I began to take note of these mind altering interventions was with driving. It is easy to become angry with other drivers, especially when they appear, in my opinion, to drive irrationally. On a typical commute to work, I was getting quickly annoyed with a driver, but the thought occurred to me that I do not know what is happening in the other vehicle. While this may seem like a simple thought, it was profoundly significant to me. The driver could be lost, could be dealing with a crying babe, could be in mourning, could be scared, could have just spilled hot coffee, or for any other reason. How often am I a bad driver because of extenuating circumstances? I can vividly remember recklessly steering the car to the side of the road, throwing napkins in the backseat because my daughter spilled a drink everywhere, or slamming on the brakes at a stoplight that I missed seeing change because my son got sick a moment before. God’s inspirational thought certainly changed my compassion and patience towards other drivers, but it also set me on a course to change my annoyed thought processes all together.

The beauty of having patience with drivers is that I can easily assume the motorist must be having a challenging day and move on, but relationships present a greater test. When I have to see a person many times over, or see him/her do something I find annoying, my mind is quick to assess the situation and, unfortunately, critique the actions. However, these pet-peeves have turned into blessings. For example, my husband recently got a smartphone—all the new bells and whistles. Like all new gadgets there is a certain amount of ooohh, aaahh, and time spent learning. Consequently, I would find myself getting quite annoyed with his time allotted “playing” with the phone. At first, I was found grumbling about it, then I moved to more outward expressions of “get-off-the-phone!” Finally, I sat playing on my own phone when my son wanted something and I was aggravated that I had to stop—I thought, “Wait, I’m doing this too!” Another time, I watched a friend of mine get very upset with her kids who were acting in a normal kid-like manner. My friend was trying to watch a television episode, but the kids were overly distracting. I was very troubled by her behavior with her kids, but then I found myself doing the exact same thing later in the week. I wanted to watch my show and the kids just needed to be still, then I thought, “Wait, I’m doing this too!” In both cases, I knew immediately what was more important than these gadgets and distractions—my family and a million other things! There are still times when I need a moment to breathe or check my email for work, but I curb my tone and tongue to let my family know that I need a few minutes. I finish up my task and give them the time I promised.

There are many opportunities for learning from annoying situations. It is beneficial to ask why do I find it so annoying. The answer is often “because I do that too and I don’t like that about me.” It is easy to see my faults in others; I just need to stop looking through the window trying to remove specks and look in the mirror, asking “Do I do that, also?”, to remove the plank in my eye (Luke 6:42).

You might also be interested in...

After one of the most difficult trials of my life came something amazing worthy...

Comments

  • Deanne
    Thank you for writing this article Kate. Recently I have come to realise that the daily peak hour traffic is when I get annoyed because not everyone drives considerately leaving enough room in front of them on the road for safety, and even more annoyingly, do not indicate when they hop in front of me causing me to literally slam on my brakes. I blurted out to God, see look at this, how am I meant to be at peace when this constantly happens 5 days a week many times to and from work? I sat there gripping the steering wheel murmuring to God full of indignation. Ok Father how do I cope with this; please tell me! The scripture Isaiah 18:1 came to mind........come, let us reason together. Ok I am up for that, I need this daily repetitive problem dealt with and now because it was literally interfering in an otherwise peaceful day. So, I had a choice. Be upset and cranky OR I could look at the situation as a test. We are all being tested for many character traits in the whole of our life time in this present evil age, are we not? Then it came to me. If I deliberately chose to change my thoughts, words and actions maybe I would feel better. Ok I will smile, laugh, pray for the person to get to work on time, or deal with whatever they needed help with, and for God to bless them. What about me? Well, each time a driver speeds up and jerks their car in front of mine, I talk out loud and tell God, hurray, I am developing patience because I will need it for The Kingdom, won't I? Sure will. So thank you Father for each and every test because I am showing You that I am developing the character needed in order to be of service to Him and others. Instead of having the faulty mentality of 'It's not fair!' I now think, Yes!!!! Another opportunity to show God that I can take joy out of a situation that used to upset me. Imagine if everyone could drive the correct speed, obey the road rules, and have the peace that we have because our lives have been rescued out of this very dark, 'me first' world. Bring on The Kingdom Father so all can go through the process of healing and share in the priceless gifts we now have.
  • DanielSnedden
    Thank you for your excellent article. I think you wrote this for me. I used to be quick to anger as well, especially with other drivers. I constantly ask God for more patience and understanding. This is one of those never ending attempts to improve. It really hits home when I say or do something stupid without thinking (Thoughtlessness). That's when I take a deep breath and ask for more help. I also started looking at everyone else as my brother or sister. I am more patient with family than strangers. The fact is that most if not all of the people I interact with throughout my entire life will eventually be my brothers and sisters in God's Kingdom. Even those who cut me off in traffic without leaving enough room or signalling.Thanks again. It is nice to know I am not alone. Daniel
  • Join the conversation!

    Log in or register to post comments