FRUSTRATED?

Sunday, August 19, 2018

FRUSTRATED?

Ezra 4:4-5

4 Then the people of the land weakened the hands of the people of Judah, and troubled them in building,

5 And hired counsellors against them, to frustrate their purpose, all the days of Cyrus king of Persia, even until the reign of Darius king of Persia.

Gal 2:21

21 I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.

           Only twice in our Authorized Version do we find the word “frustrate”. Once in the Old Testament and once again in the new. Let’s take a look.

           Ezra was trying to rebuild a damaged Temple and was frustrated by the people of the surrounding lands. Here the word is the Hebrew parar and it means “to break up or to violate.” The idea is to slow the progress of the Temple or to cause the work to cease. That’s what happens when we are frustrated. Our purposes are being hindered. Things aren’t going our way or the progress is painfully slow.

           Paul, in Galatians, uses the Greek word atheteo which means “to set aside, to disesteem, or to neutralize.” He explains that he does not want to frustrate God by trying to purchase a salvation by his own works that has already been paid for on Calvary’s cross! I imagine the frustration of a teacher trying to get through to a “slow” student who persists in doing things the wrong way.

           If you feel frustrated today then pay attention to the “IT” in our closing verse. Actually the it is in italics indicating that it was included to make it more understandable in English. The phrase is “He shall bring to pass.”

Ps 37:5

5 Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.

Lord, it is frustrating to keep trying to do what You do not want done! It is frustrating trying to teach those who do not want to be taught. It is frustrating to try to rescue those who don’t see themselves as in danger. Help me to commit my way to your way. Lord, please bring IT to pass. AMEN