HOW TO CHANGE YOUR OUTLOOK ON INCONVENIENCE

What do the terms DoorDash, Hello Fresh, and Amazon Prime have in common? It’s not that we can’t pick up our own food, shop for our own vegetables, or wait the extra day for our packages to arrive… In our society today, we prioritize convenience!

With all of the services we have readily available to reduce time and make our everyday processes more efficient, it is no wonder that we can become so easily flustered by the tiniest inconvenience.

This week, I just had ‘one of those days’ where it seemed like every single thing was going wrong. I was met with delay after delay after delay. And although no one was to blame, I couldn’t wrap my head around why things weren’t going my way.

When I finally left work for the day, I was relieved that everything was finally finished yet still frustrated at all the time I felt was wasted. But as I merged onto the interstate headed home, I realized I had nearly missed a fatal car accident.

All I could see from my angle was a woman lying flat on the ground and a man kneeling next to her on the phone trying to make sure she was okay. Tears started to stream down my face in shock and I couldn’t help but think to myself, “If I had been there only five seconds earlier, that could have been me.”

Thank God for those inconveniences throughout the day.

Since then, my mind has been swarmed with thoughts surrounding our human perception of inconvenience in comparison to God’s sovereignty over all things. What we may see as an annoying hindrance could actually be God’s providence and protection over our life!

So how can we change our outlook and prepare our attitude to respond to the inconveniences that will inevitably come our way?

Choose Patience

pa • tience (noun) – the capacity to accept or tolerate delay, trouble, or suffering without getting angry or upset.

Ironically enough, the antidote for inconvenience in our lives is not finding a way to make things more convenient… It is choosing a posture of patience. Because the question is not if delays and troubles will arise, but when.

Some of my favorite translations of the Bible actually interpret patience to mean “long-suffering,” one of the best illustrations of how we should approach the inconveniences that come our way. In my life, especially, it becomes much easier for me to absorb an attitude of patience when I remember how patient the Lord has been with me.

“The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.”

2 Peter 3:9, ESV

Let’s face it. God has been SO patient with us. Even despite our repeated mistakes, failures, and stubbornness that would have turned anyone else away, His love for us and promises over our life have never changed! Think about this the next time things don’t go as planned – we have the privilege of choosing patience because of the way God has always demonstrated that for us.

Choose Gratitude

grat • i • tude (noun) – the quality of being thankful; readiness to show appreciation for and to return kindness.

As the definition implies, a heart of gratitude is not dependent only on positive outcomes. It is the act of being consistently prepared to express thankfulness whether or not things go our way.

But choosing gratitude over frustration and annoyance doesn’t eliminate the root problem. It simply shifts our focus from everything that is going wrong to all of the things that have gone right. And typically, at least for me, that means making a conscious effort to avoid complaining.

“We live in a culture that thrives on complaints. We are all experts at seeing what God ISN’T doing. They key is to focus on what God IS doing!”

“Complaining is to the devil what praise is to God. Satan loves to hear us complain. He knows, when he hears that, we aren’t focused on God and what He wants.”

Bill Johnson, Senior Pastor at Bethel Church

There are so many things going on in the spiritual realm that we will never be aware of. Even now, there are angel armies actively battling for YOUR heart and the victory over your current situation. We have to do our part in practicing gratitude to usher in the blessings of God, while taking every negative thought captive and making it obedient to Christ.

Choose Grace

grace (noun): unmerited favor from God toward man.

Just as God continually justifies us through grace that we will never deserve, we are also called to show mercy toward those who have caused inconveniences in our lives. The first step in choosing grace is recognizing all of the times that we have been shown unmerited favor from God and others as well.

Since observing that fatal car accident last week, there is something that has been laid on my heart to share. In life, there is a major difference between causing an inconvenience and being an inconvenience. Just like what we learned in science classes growing up, correlation does not equal causation.

You Were Made On Purpose, For A Purpose

If anyone has ever told you or made you feel like you were a burden, hindrance, or bother – this message is for you. I want you to hear me loud and clear. You are SEEN AND KNOWN, not just by your family and friends that choose to love you. But by the God who knew you before you were born and created you on purpose, for a specific purpose! You were planned, well thought-out, destined for greatness, and NOT an accident. I don’t know who needs to hear this today, but the Lord has mighty plans for you to fulfill. And if you are reading these words right now, He is not finished with you yet!

“Oh yes, you shaped me first inside, then out; you formed me in my mother’s womb… You know me inside and out, you know every bone in my body; you know exactly how I was made, bit by bit, how I was sculpted from nothing into something. Like an open book, you watched me grow from conception to birth; all the stages of my life were spread out before you; The days of my life all prepared before I’d even lived one day.”

Psalm 139: 15-16, the MSG

Let this resonate in your heart this week the same way that it has been influencing mine. The next time you are delayed, troubled, or discomforted (which could be very, very soon!), remember all of the ways that God has chosen to be patient and gracious with you!

And let’s not forget to “Pey It Foreword!”