GOD'S IN CHARGE! NOT YOU!

All my life I have used anger to handle frustration.  Shame on me, I know, I know!  I hate my anger, yet it is all I have ever known. I grew up with it!  And I was ashamed.  I tested angry when I took various tests.  And I was ashamed.  My frustration with others is very un-like Jesus' anger at the temple money-changers. There needs to be a change in how I handle frustration.  I need to make a new habit.  And I don't seem to be very good at it.

Now, I know that God's in charge of circumstances.  I know His plan for me includes good things.  It's not God I get angry at; it's people! Yet, other  people can't always be thinking about how their actions might be troubling for me. Some actions are so thoughtless I let myself get frustrated. And there I am, whining and carrying on like a child unable to have her way.

Pete's sake, I'm going to be 80 this year!  It's time I grew up.  My kid's know better.  My husband is a champion of stability.  Why can't I handle a little frustration?  Or... why can't I keep from being frustrated altogether?

If only things that happen in life would be more fair, nicer, more just, or thoughtful. Of course, I may add to those circumstances myself, as I think about it. How good am I at handing circumstances off to others?  I don't even know the answer to that. No, the answer to my problem, is within me.

I suppose there will be a 'next time' to my anger problem.  I hope not. Yet, I'm sure there will be a next time to my getting frustrated with someone else. So, what can I do to remember that God's in charge.  God's in charge of frustrating people even if they don't know it!  And He must be in charge of me. And how can I make sure I let God be in charge? By letting Him into the frustrating circumstances, and being assured that God has allowed it all  to be set up in just this way.   For me.  Because He loves me and wants me to learn to trust Him in spite of the circumstances.   There is no reason here for anger.

I still need you, God, desperately, in spite of my age.  Please help me to remember this...You Are In Charge.......even in frustrating circumstances... so I must and will learn.  Help me to remember this.
And this...You Are In Charge of ALL Circumstances.  And all will be well. 

Thank you, God.

Your almost 80 year old child, Jo