When hard times hit, how do you deal with them? Most of us talk to God, but that doesn’t always seem to be our main way to cope. I was inspired by Jon Acuff’s post about being cut off in traffic by a guy with a fish sticker on his car.

We’d all like to think that if someone cut us off in traffic, or offended someone in our family, we’d react the way God wants us to. Just “brushing it off” seems to be the best advice, which is usually easier said than done. When a more major event happens, do you find yourself leaning more on God or more earthly things like your belongings, food, or other people?

I ask these questions because I am definitely one who struggles with reflecting God in my actions. We all are, but I have a habit of getting frustrated first and praying later. The Bible tells us of other people’s struggles and how they handled it with God by their side. It was not written to make us feel better or worse about ourselves, but to show us how God wants us to be and how we can better serve Him.

So I ask, how do you deal with frustrating situations?