Galatians 5:22-25 — But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.

It’s been a frustrating day! I’m not going to go into all the details, but see if you recognize any if these:

— People who are supposed to be selling a service who make it really clear that they have no interest in providing the service, or value for money.
— People who have ridiculous expectations, and no gratitude for any efforts made to meet the demands.
— Machines that just don’t work the way they should.

I’ve had all of these to deal with today. None if them have been caused by me, controlled by me, or fixable by me. (Now don’t mistake me — sometimes I get frustrated and it’s all caused, controlled and fixable by me — but today none of it was me!)

John Broger international missionary and evangelist, and president emeritus of the Biblical Counseling Foundation made an excellent point: “Anger and bitterness are two noticeable signs of being focused on self and not trusting God’s sovereignty in your life. When you believe that God causes all things to work together for good to those who belong to Him and love Him, you can respond to trials with joy instead of anger or bitterness.” I think we can safely replace “Anger and bitterness” in the observation with “Frustration”.
When I get frustrated — actually when I get past the frustration — I find that I have to take a good hard look at myself, and then “I” has to give “Me” a good talking to! The question is simple, but sometimes painful: “How am I doing on love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness and temperance?” Actually, looking at the fruits of the Spirit is interesting. Different fruits seem to be more important in different circumstances. When it comes to frustration it seems that peace and longsuffering should come first. The circumstances I am dealing with are not part of some cosmic plot intended to make me (personally) miserable — even if, sometimes, I’m sure God is teaching me patience!
In trying circumstances, peace and longsuffering seem obvious, but what about the other fruits? Well, there is surely being loving and good to the people I encounter. Then there’s handling interactions with those people — gentleness and meekness, for sure.
I’m feeling better now! Counting the rest of my fruit has restored the last fruit in the basket. Joy is back. And that’s the point, isn’t it. The fruits belong together. Look after them, no matter what the circumstances, and you’ll grow an orchard!