This Is the Stuff That Drives Me Crazy!

This is the Stuff is one of my favorite songs right now and there is a reason why! It strikes a chord! Lost keys, running late, getting pulled over, we have all had these things happen before. The thing we should avoid is letting these things set the tone for the whole day! 

Hey, I am preaching to myself! Believe ME! 

Recently I have had an issue with a change of policy at one of my kids' schools. I made calls, I e-mailed the superintendent and I gave my opinion about the whole thing to anyone who was unlucky enough to catch me in my "complain" mode. 

Which lasted a week! A WEEK! 

I let something small, that really has no impact on the important issues of life, affect me so strongly that it hijacked a week of my effectiveness in the kingdom. 

I was not mean, rude, or ugly about my opinion, but it was all about me, my opinion, my concern, my voice, me me me me me me me! 

One of the quickest ways to ruin a witness is to start talking about ourselves, our opinions, our thoughts more than we talk about Jesus. 

Don't get me wrong, we can still have opinions and we can even talk about them, but everything we do and say should be measured against Jesus. If it edifies and glorifies God, then that is what we should focus on more through out our day, not the little annoyances of the everyday. 

Look at Judas

Judas kept the ministry purse for Jesus. He was the "treasurer" of the ministry, so to speak, and instead of focusing on the things that brought glory to God, he focused on the cost. 

I have been there, I get it. 

Money was tight, Judas was tired, and he worked hard for Jesus. He probably wanted to take a little of that money and sneak off to get pampered at a local inn, get his feet washed by a cute serving girl and spend the day relaxing. Instead, Jesus was always laying hands on the sick, raising the dead, and having dinner with tax collectors and harlots. 

Just a few days before Jesus was betrayed by Judas, Judas was focused on the little things yet again. (John 12 The Message) 

Six days before Passover, Jesus entered Bethany where Lazarus, so recently raised from the dead, was living. Lazarus and his sisters invited Jesus to dinner at their home. Martha served. Lazarus was one of those sitting at the table with them. Mary came in with a jar of very expensive aromatic oils, anointed and massaged Jesus' feet, and then wiped them with her hair. The fragrance of the oils filled the house.

Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples, even then getting ready to betray him, said, "Why wasn't this oil sold and the money given to the poor? It would have easily brought three hundred silver pieces." He said this not because he cared two cents about the poor but because he was a thief. He was in charge of their common funds, but also embezzled them.

Jesus said, "Let her alone. She's anticipating and honoring the day of my burial. You always have the poor with you. You don't always have me."

"But Dayna, you don't know how crazy I get when ...." 


Yeah, I do. I understand. I know life is full of things that rub us the wrong way and full of people whose sole mission seems to be to annoy us beyond our limits of patience. But this IS the stuff God wants us to get over. 


We need to get past what effects and affects us and focus on what effects the kingdom! 

Philippians 4:8 says "Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things."

When you loose your keys, when you get pulled over, when your kid's school drives you crazy, take a breath, pray, refocus on the things God wants you to focus on and your day will go so much more smoothly than it was. 

What drives you crazy?