I am not the world’s most patient person. In fact, I have an extremely low tolerance threshold for nagging and repeated questioning. When people are condescending (especially if they are in the wrong), I get annoyed. I dislike interruptions when I am working. When people request advice, it bothers me when they do what they want anyway. (I see it as a disrespect of my time.) Though years of ministry have helped me develop the grace of God in my life, I’m definitely a work in progress. I can easily find people frustrating, especially if they move in nonsense. With a Kingdom mindset in modern times, there’s no way we can balance nonsense with spiritual purpose.
Once day, I found myself irritated with someone. Then, I had a thought: “I wonder if this is how God feels when we know what we are supposed to do something, and just don’t do it.”
Immediately the Spirit dropped within me, “Frustrating the grace of God.”
Frustrating the grace of God in Scripture
The Spirit echoed the words of Galatians 2:16-21:
Know that a person is not justified by the works of the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law, because by the works of the law no one will be justified.
“But if, in seeking to be justified in Christ, we Jews find ourselves also among the sinners, doesn’t that mean that Christ promotes sin? Absolutely not! If I rebuild what I destroyed, then I really would be a lawbreaker.
“For through the law I died to the law so that I might live for God. I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, Who loved me and gave Himself for me. I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!” (NIV)
This passage is important today, just as it was in days gone by. We need the reminder: we are not saved by ourselves, nor are we saved by the works of the law. This includes our own re-created concepts therein.
Re-creating the law
All throughout history, people have tried to operate via their own means of righteousness. They do this by creating their own law or their own version of the law. No matter what tower we build to maintain our shelters, our fortress keeps us from confronting our sin. One way we create our own law is by simply not associating with certain people out of a sense of self-righteousness. If we hold ourselves above other people because we consider ourselves to be superior, we are creating our own law. If we are not doing what God has asked of us and calling that “grace,” we are creating our own law.
All around us, we can find extremes: one excessive end of “dos and don’ts,” and another of total disobedience. Both are equally frustrating to God, and are a frustration of His grace to us. Grace has not been given to us as an excuse for disobedience, nor to meet a personal need for self-righteousness and personal glory. As with all things in God, He calls us to seek balance – the middle ground – between these two excessive extremes. When we find balance, we are grounded in a place that no longer frustrates His grace.
Grace is valuable and precious
God also sees His grace as valuable and precious. When we dishonor the grace He has freely given us, God feels dishonored. We focus on character development away from impatience and intolerance. Seldom do we flip the coin and look at the reverse. Sometimes people are as patient as they have within them to be, and others grate on that. Some lash out or say things that perhaps they shouldn’t, but sometimes they are provoked. In this instance, the goodness they have has been frustrated – and the result is a sense of anger. It is not a vain anger, but a righteous one – one that in an honest setting should cause all to step back and look at themselves.
Getting real about grace
We don’t like to think of God as angry or displeased. We certainly don’t like to think of ourselves as “frustrating” God’s grace. It’s our hope that it’s impossible to do, simply because it’s from God – but the Scriptures don’t give that perspective. Modern ministries tend to emphasize certain attributes of God that are appealing to people – and, in turn, advocate these attributes in people.
While there’s nothing wrong with aspiring to be Christlike, many of these attributes are presented for manipulative purposes. This turns, over time, into a source of control. Believers think the witchcraft they work is some sort of mainstream for “faith.” I call it the “First Church of MakeNice.” Some think Jesus came to earth to “MakeNice” with humanity, and now God “MakesNice” with us. In this same theory, this also means that we should “MakeNice” with each other. It’s not supposed to matter if they are frustrating not just us, but God, as well.
It doesn’t matter how annoying or frustrating someone is – we’re supposed to pretend we are all right with how they behave. This is considered character-building. No, what it is is dishonest. I agree that sometimes we need to be understanding, but sometimes we need to just tell people, with a true spirit of love and honesty, that their behavior is unacceptable. Grace does not exist so we can be endlessly needy or annoying, nor does it exist so we can be self-righteous and pompous with one another.
Don’t frustrate God’s grace
We want to hear about the mercy, grace, and patience of God, but we don’t want to hear about the flip side, which is our own doing: frustrating the grace of God. God IS loving and merciful and patient, but the Bible specifically commands us not to frustrate the grace of God. In other words, the Word commands us with the same commandment found since the beginning: to be obedient. God still doesn’t cotton to self-righteousness. He still does not like disobedience. His work and grace still stand, but we are still called to cooperate with the work He does in us.
In the end, the choice remains ours as to whether or not we frustrate God’s grace. I write this so all of us can take a good, long look at ourselves, and the things each one of us needs to work out in order to move to the place He has for us. How are we out of balance in our lives? Is that frustrating God’s grace? How are we, as a type, frustrating others with our out-of-balance approach? How can we be better prepared for what God is asking us to do?
Our personal frustration is a type, a shadow, a reminder, of what God goes through with each one of us when we frustrate His grace. Next time you have this experience, step back and think about the work God wants to do within you…and take the steps to do it.
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In