If you don’t know what you’re doing, pray to the Father. He loves to help. James 1:5 The Message

When was the last time you were good and frustrated?

Money was tight when Amanda was growing up. If she needed clothes, her parents would purchase fabric for her, but she needed to sew them. When she tried to sew a bathing suit, the slippery fabric proved too much for her. When she raced to her room in tears of frustration. her helpful younger brother left a note for her at the sewing machine. The note read, “If at first you don’t succeed, cry, rip it up and throw it away!”

The feelings of anger, powerlessness and despair behind frustration can be crippling. You may need a new goal. You may need a different timetable. Or you may need help from someone else.

When the people of the Old Testament were rebuilding God’s Temple, the Bible says, “The local residents tried to discourage and frighten the people…to keep them from their work. They bribed agents to work against them and frustrate their plans” (Ezra 4:4-5). Work stopped on the Temple for 15 years due to that frustration and discouragement. The eyes of the people were on the problem, not on God, their source. He told them that it wouldn’t be by force nor by strength, but by [His] Spirit” that the Temple would be rebuilt (Zechariah 4:6). He helped them by a way they would never have imagined–through the favor of a new king.

Frustrated plans give us the opportunity to go to God for comfort, wisdom and clarity. “If you don’t know what you’re doing,” says scripture, “pray to the Father. He loves to help” (James 1:5 The Message). The next time you’re frustrated, remember: God always welcomes us to go to Him for perspective and wisdom–even for the smallest things in life that discourage us.