Did Jesus ever have someone that irritated Him, just to irritate Him?

 

And what did He do with them…how did He handle it within?

Those of you who know me well know that I love my quiet time each morning, that going off alone and being alone with the Father, Son and Spirit, this time of day is by far my favorite, by far the most important, by far my most cherished thing of all my life. Take away anything else…but not that. A gorgeous setting here in the desert, safe and sound in the haven the Lord has blessed me with, the peace and serenity of hours of it being just me and Him!

Of late this haven has had an irritant…a radio. A neighbor has placed out on their patio a radio, set to come on every morning at 6:03am and it plays for 2 hours. For 2-3 months now I’ve smiled and ignored the problem, for real, I just let it slide, but somehow, for some reason this past 7-10 days it’s just flat out irritating me. Like nails on a chalk board, like an itch where you just can’t reach, like a bad rash I just want it to stop!!

I tried to think of a person that was an irritant to Jesus and how He handled the irritation within. Judas? I mean Jesus knew Judas was the one that would betray Him, that would irritate me. What about the Pharisees? They were always just trying to prove Jesus wrong, they wanted Him dead, again, irritating. Now I know, from what the Bible tells us, how Jesus talked with them. But, and I’m seriously asking here, what did he do with the emotions that come up from those irritants? You know, the internal stuff that lingers…did he have that negative stuff and what did He do with it?

I'm losing my patience and I don’t know what to do with these emotions. Do I love these people? Yes. There are aspects of them and I even like…yet when they push and push just to get a reaction and you try hard to not react, it eventually comes up and out in some ugly way. I fear the ugly approaching…so I ask you all…what did Jesus do? I keep thinking I’ve got to let it just slide right off my back, like water from a duck’s back … someone help me be a duck J without being a doormat. Keep your answers positive, I'm not looking for revenge, I'm looking for peace.

I read this wonderful devotional “31 Days of Praise” and day 20 is about such people…it’s a great devotional and with every paragraph written by Ruth Myers she backs it up with Scriptures. I came to day 20 and thought YAY! He’s going tell me what to do about them! I love Him so…all the Scriptures - they weren’t about them, they were about me. He’s doing a work in me. He’s reminding me to count it all joy. That in life, there are struggles. He’s molding it all together for good.

I still want the radio to stop, but I guess, for now; I’ll go back inside at 6:03am and let Him work on me, finish up what He started, all the while enjoying that haven and view.

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