From Frustration to Desperation

"As the deer pants for streams of water, so I long for you, O God." Psalm 42:1

"I am so frustrated!" "Something has to change!" "I can't live like this anymore!" Does this sound familiar? We all come to points in our journey of faith that cause us to throw up our hands in frustration; frustration with our circumstances, frustration with our own compromising behaviors, frustration with "doing the same thing and expecting a different result." Frustration in and of itself doesn't produce much that we could see as positive. Frustration in our lives can cause us to be irritable, impatient and often impossible to live with. But......if we allow frustration to push us toward the next level in our spiritual walk, it can actually be a good thing. Simply stated: We begin to change, not when we are frustrated--we begin to change when we are desperate.

In Psalm 42:1 the writer gives us a beautiful picture of spiritual desperation. We all understand what it means to be thirsty. You know, the I can't think of anything else at that moment but getting a drink of water kind of thirsty? That's the kind of thirst and desperation I want to have for the Lord. I must admit that all too often I'm not thirsty enough. I allow other concerns and desires to step in and interfere with that "thirsty walk". Lord, make me desperately thirsty for you.

How about you? Are you at a point of frustration or desperation! There's a big difference.