There is a probably apocryphal story about a beach in England where they hired out pedalo boats to tourists. One of the students working a summer job at the pedalo boat hire noticed that one of the boats was quite far out. He grabbed his binoculars to have a look at the boats number and then began to shout through the megaphone louder each time.

COME IN NUMBER 99,

COME IN NUMBER 99

COME IN NUMBER 99

Number 99 stubbornly stayed out to sea and the annoyed student complained to one of his work colleagues about the people on boat 99 ignoring his instructions. His colleague grabbed the binoculars and said “we don’t have a boat 99” and saw that boat 66 was upside down in the water.

He took the microphone and shouted

BOAT 66 ARE YOU IN TROUBLE?

BOAT 66 ARE YOU IN TROUBLE?

Confession, I have often acted like the hapless student and got annoyed and frustrated with people I should have helped because I didn’t realize they were in trouble.

Its so easy to do. Have you considered that that person who you are losing patience with right now, could be experiencing the equivalent of a capsize in their life you are not seeing? That the person who is frustrating you, could feel like they are drowning in life.

In Ephesians 4:32 Paul gives us this advice that might help us avoid the mistake of getting the annoying and the drowning mixed up.

Be kind and compassionate to one another,

Paul encourages us to be helpful rather than judgemental. This advice might help us keep our blood pressure down and become empathetic rather than apoplectic with other people.

So, when someone annoys and frustrates you, try to respond with kindness and compassion, it will help both of you.