From my random mind ...

The difference between 'frustration' and 'anger' is interesting. I was conversing with a friend last week and he asked me what the difference was. I thought about it and couldn't come up with a coherent answer. So here is the definition of the two words and some examples of them used in sentences.

FRUSTRATION (def): the feeling that accompanies an experience of being thwarted in attaining your goals; a feeling of annoyance at being hindered or criticized; an act of hindering someone's plans or efforts.

I am frustrated; I feel like a blind dog running around in a meat house.

I am so frustrated that it's as though I were peanut butter that was forced into a hypodermic syringe.

Do you see the wonderful pictures those two statements paint in your mind. Through those statements you have a pretty vivid picture of what frustration would feel like, don't you?

ANGRY (def): A strong feeling of displeasure or hostility; to enrage or provoke; a feeling of great annoyance or antagonism as the result of some real or supposed grievance.

Anger is flowing out of me like lava.
Anger spread through me like a malignant tumor.
Angry words fan the fire like wind.
Anger was running all through his blood and bones like an electric flood

Again, there are pictures created via words that make it clear what anger feels like. Check out these two statements re: the result of being angry:

A Chinese Proverb: "Anger is as useless as the waves of the ocean without wind."

"A fit of anger is as fatal to dignity as a dose of arsenic to life" —Josiah Gilbert Holland*

Can anyone honestly say that being angry and acting out as a result of that anger has ever paid dividends in their life? Scripture tells us the following about anger:

Psalm 4:4(NKJV) "Be angry and do not sin. Meditate within your heart on your bed, and be still."

Ephesians 4:26(NKJV) “Be angry, and do not sin”: do not let the sun go down on your wrath, ...."

I feel like being frustrated is just part of life. It is important to know the difference between being frustrated and being angry. It is equally important to not let our frustration erupt into anger, because when that happens, no one wins.

WALK WITH THE KING TODAY AND BE A BLESSING!

*Josiah Gilbert Holland (July 24, 1819 – October 12, 1881) was an American novelist and poet who also wrote under the pseudonym Timothy Titcomb.