You anoint my head with oil; My cup runs over. Psalm 23:5b NKJV
Never had I encountered such aggravation.
Although my mom birthed me in New Jersey,
I knew nothing of living there. After three months, my father was discharged
from the Army, and we headed back to the lower regions of South Carolina where
most of my family resided.
I’m sure I encountered these insects of
aggravation soon thereafter—although I had to age a little before I understood
what they were. Gnats. The most aggravating insect I’ve ever encountered.
During my middle school years, when Dad moved us to Tennessee for four years, I
enjoyed not having to fight with these persistent bugs which love to fly in
ears, noses, and mouths.
When we moved back to South Carolina, my
vacation from gnats ended. I suppose I learned to live with them because
nothing got rid of them. Dousing myself with insect repellant kept them off the
exact parts of my body where I put the repellant, but they swarmed in front of
me and around me, looking for one spot where I had not lavished any repellant.
People not from the South think we in the
South are friendly because we generally wave at everyone. What they don’t know
is that often we’re just shooing away gnats.
A good shepherd, David included, knew all
about aggravating insects and parasites. Although the summer grazing on the
mountain summits excited the sheep, the bugs that come along with the warm
weather didn’t. One type of fly entered the sheep’s nose and laid larvae in
their heads. The resulting bug ran around in the sheep’s head, causing the sheep
to thrash about and bang their heads against anything that might provide
relief.
To prevent this fly from entering the
sheep’s nose—and to keep the rams from hurting each other during mating
season—the shepherd applied various oils to the sheep’s head and nose.
I’ve discovered aggravations are parcel to
life. They don’t all come at one time, although sometimes they seem to bunch
up, but they do appear regularly. A lost job, a low-paying job, a broken-down
vehicle, a malfunctioning appliance, an untrustworthy friend, a bullying peer,
an unpaid bill, an unexpected surgery, or a rebellious child or grandchild. The
list seems endless.
A part of enjoying life is expecting the
aggravations. They infiltrate a world cursed by sin—a world that changed from
God’s original purpose the moment Adam and Eve decided to disobey His
instructions. When we expect the aggravations, our attitudes don’t deteriorate
so quickly when they arrive.
God also gives us the mind of Christ.
Jesus always operated according to the Father’s will, never sinning despite the
aggravations He encountered. Allowing His Spirit to guide and prepare us helps
us face aggravations without responding in an unChristlike manner.
When we learn to live life joyfully, even
with the aggravations, our cup overflows. Like the sheep who grazed contentedly
because the shepherd had warded off the bugs that aggravated them, we’ll face
life with optimism, knowing our Good Shepherd’s blessings will outweigh the
aggravations.
Don’t let life’s aggravations cause you to
miss out on God’s best for you.
Prayer: Father, thank You for Your oil of love that gives us strength to
face life’s aggravations and keep going.
Tweetable: Are you accepting or rejecting God's oil?
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