It had been a long day and I was ready to go home. It was almost 9 p.m. and only a few groups of people were left. They were standing in clusters and talking about various matters before getting in their cars and going to their homes.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw someone approaching me. He was a complete stranger, but some mysterious sixth sense told me that he was looking for me. When he walked up to me, he said, “Excuse me, but are you Dr. Allen?”

“Yes,” I replied. Very quickly I scanned the young man and asked, “What can I do for you?”

“Is there some place that we can talk privately?” he asked.

As I led him away from the little clusters of people to a quieter place, he told me that his name was Jeremy. As we stood there in that darkened room, this young man named Jeremy began to cry. I said, “Jeremy, why don’t you tell me what’s bothering you?”

Jeremy struggled to bring his emotions under control and then he said, “I’ve worked so hard to get through school. I’ll be a senior in college this fall, but I don’t have the money to keep going. I took a test for a job, but I was so nervous, I don’t think I did very well. I’ve worked so hard to get this far. I don’t know how much more frustration I can take. I don’t know what I am going to do.”

One thing that we must learn in life is that we are going to encounter frustration. Let’s face it -- if we are going to live in this world, we are going to experience frustration. It is simply a fact of life. Frustration comes to us in a variety of ways. Frustration comes when our hopes or plans are blocked. Frustration comes when some cherished project is hindered. Frustration comes when you set out toward some goal or dream and life cruelly slams that door shut in your face. The biography of any one of our lives would have to include certain instances where we hoped, and dreamed, and planned for some particular event and it never came to pass. And we are left feeling frustrated.

The feeling of frustration is something that we all encounter. When you read the Bible, again and again you will discover people of faith wrestling with this very thing. Moses led the Children of Israel for 40 years through the desert wilderness, looking for the Promised Land. Finally, the time came for the Children of Israel to cross the Jordan River and enter the Promised Land that was flowing with milk and honey, but Moses was left in the wilderness, shut out from the Promised Land, frustrated at seeing the goal he had struggled a lifetime to reach, now out of his reach.

The Apostle Paul planned to launch a missionary journey into Bithynia, right on the shores of the Black Sea. He dreamed of an Asiatic empire for Christ that would stretch across modern Russia and China, but something prevented his going. Something barred that door of hope against his entrance, something moved him in another direction and he was left frustrated with a vision of what might have been.

Perhaps, the most poignant or dramatic instance of frustration in the Bible was the desire of David to build a temple for God in Jerusalem. All of his life it had been David’s intention to erect a house of worship for the Hebrew people. But, the wars and disasters and conflicts prevented him from fulfilling that dream. However, when the wars were over and peace reigned throughout the kingdom, he set his sights on building a magnificent temple which was to be his crowning achievement. And God said to him: “No! You shall not build the temple. Other hands will build it when you are dead and gone.” David’s hopes were destroyed, his heart was broken, and he was frustrated at not being able to fulfill his dream.

Living in this world means that we are going to encounter frustration. That is a realistic fact! The question we must ask is not “if” we are going to experience frustration, but “how” are we going to deal with frustration? How are we going to respond when frustrations come our way in life? What are we going to do when our dreams and ambitions end up in heartbreaking frustration?

Today, I want to suggest some things which will strengthen us and prevent us from being emotionally crushed by the frustrations of life. Unless we have some inner strength, the frustrations of life can leave us crushed or crumpled. So, let’s consider how we deal with frustration.

I. Dealing With Frustration Requires That You Never Give Up.

In this world, there are only two kinds of people when it comes to frustration. There are those people who see their dreams dashed against the wall and their frustration causes them to give up. They can’t take the heat of failure and their frustration at not being able to see their dreams become reality simply causes them to give up in defeat.

And the second kind of people are those who will not accept defeat as the final answer. This second group may be frustrated because some dream did not become a reality. But, because they refuse to accept defeat as the final answer, they discover that the frustration will pass and there will be new opportunities before them. Several years ago, a friend of mine was driving through town and he called and asked if I could have lunch with him on short notice. I rescheduled an appointment and met him for lunch. During our lunch, we brought each other up to date on what has been going on in our lives.

The events from my life were not nearly as spectacular as the events from his life. He and his wife had recently gotten a divorce, his hopes and dreams for his career had been shattered and he had to find another job. His new job only paid about 50 percent of what his previous job had paid, he had to sell his lovely home and was now living in a small apartment, and he was still having to dip into his savings just to pay his bills and live.

As he told me his long list of woes, I began to be depressed. He had experienced a lot of disappointment and frustration. Finally, he looked up at me and said, “There is one biblical phrase that has come to mean a lot to me in the the last few months. It’s the little phrase which says, ‘and this too shall pass!’ ”

There is something to be said for dealing with frustration in this manner. Whatever frustrations come your way in life, never give up because they will pass, they will not last forever, they will change. That is the nature of things -- there is always a change.

So, whenever the frustrations come your way in life, don’t give in to despair or defeat or failure. Don’t allow the frustrations of life cause you to give up. Simply remember that whatever the frustration is, it will pass and as Little Orphan Annie sings in the play: “The sun will come out tomorrow…” The frustrations may come, but they will pass and the sun will come out tomorrow.

II. Dealing With Frustrations Requires That We Learn The Art Of Forgiveness.

So often, the frustrations which come into our lives are brought about because of the failure of another, or because of the betrayal of another, or because of the triumph of another. In moments like this, frustration combines with hostility and the desire for revenge becomes a dangerous and explosive problem in our lives.

A bumper sticker I saw recently expressed very clearly the desire for revenge which comes into our lives when our hopes and dreams meet with frustration. The bumper sticker said: “Don’t get mad, Get even.”

Getting even may be the philosophy of the world, but it is not the philosophy of Jesus Christ. The way of Christ is the way of forgiveness.

Once at Annual Conference, Charles Germany, the son of Willis Germany, was asked to say a few words to the conference since he was retiring. Charles stood before the conference and recalled his years as a missionary in Japan. He told of a story that was a dramatic witness to the power of forgiveness.

Charles said that when he first went to Japan, he heard a story about a young American fighter pilot who was shot down over Japan during World War II. The young pilot was Billy Hooten and his parents were devastated with the news that their son was dead. There was anger and bitterness and hostility mingled with their grief. Their son would never be able to fulfill the dream and goals they had for him. But, instead of allowing that bitterness to fester and eat away at their lives, they decided that the only way out of their grief was to practice the art of forgiveness.

When the war was over, these parents took the insurance money from the government and sent the money to our Board of Missions and asked that the money be used to build a Methodist Church in Japan. The Billy Hooten Memorial Methodist Church was built in Japan. And out of that church, three more Methodist Churches were formed, one school was built, one hospital was built, and five young men felt the call of God upon their lives to become ministers of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Frustration and anger and bitterness are common feelings in our hearts when our hopes and dreams are crushed. However, if we allow these feelings to fester and grow in our lives, they will become destructive. The way of Christ is the way of forgiveness because forgiveness has a redeeming value.

III. Dealing With Frustration Requires That We Learn To Give God A Chance.

There are some people who, when their deepest hopes and dreams are blocked, grow rebellious. They become embittered, their nerves are on edge and they rail at their fate and curse God. But not David! He knew that he would not be allowed to build the temple, but he refused to shake his fists at the heavens and demand that his dreams be fulfilled. Instead, he decided that he would give God a chance to make his dreams come true. David laid the foundation and prepared his people for the building of the temple which he would never see. Years later, when the magnificent temple stood complete, the people of Israel called it Solomon’s Temple. But, it was really David’s achievement. Solomon could never have done it, if David had not prayed, and sacrificed, and toiled, and kept the vision constantly before the people, and trusted in God to bring something good out of his frustration, the Temple would have never been built.

And this is what we must do when our hopes and dreams are shattered. Instead of giving in to our frustrations, let us pray, sacrifice, work, and trust God to bring something good out of the rubbish heap of our frustrations.

I know a young man who was a remarkable success. Early in his life, his name was a household word among his people. He had high hopes of saving his people and saving his nations. But, little by little, he began to realize that his hopes and dreams were destined to end in tragedy for his life.

One night, he slipped away to a quiet spot in a garden to be alone. There, in that garden, he poured out his frustration to God, but in the end, he was still willing to trust God and give God a chance.

Later, this young man was arrested and falsely accused of a crime that resulted in his imprisonment, his trial, and his execution. The end of his life was not just frustrating, but it was humiliating, disgraceful, and shameful.

It looked like he had failed. But, because he trusted God and gave God a chance, his failure was not final. Across 20 centuries, his hopes and dreams have become a reality for all people and his name today is the most respected and renowned name in the world. His name is Jesus Christ and he is my friend. He is the One I trust to one day wipe out all of my frustrations and fulfill all of my hopes and dreams. Are you ready to give God a chance with your life?

Prayer: Eternal God, teach us what it means to live in thee, to rest in thee, and to hope in thee, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.