Frustration!!

Yesterday did not go at all as planned. My day was going to be busy but productive doing good things—spending time with my mother, spending time with my mother-in-law and father-in-law, and spending time with my great-niece.

The first big frustration came with my mom. Now it wasn’t Mom that caused the problem. It is her supplemental health insurance company. This company periodically refuses to cover a specific drug because a generic is available and cheaper. It is a bother but generally a cost-effective bother. This time it was the opposite. The insurance company wrote saying the generic was no longer covered and she would have to switch to a non-generic. Mom’s doctor thought it a bit strange so he made a phone call. After consulting with some expert, he wrote the script based on the information given to him.

We turned the script into the pharmacy, did some shopping, and about thirty minutes later returned to the pharmacy to pick up the prescription. It had not been filled because they needed to consult with us before filling it. After about fifteen minutes of working with the pharmacist, we left still without the prescription and frustrated with the health insurance company. The whole incident has something to do with the way drugs are regulated. The insurance company would no longer cover the generic which cost $91 for 180 pills but wanted us to switch to a “comparable” drug which cost $1024 for 180 pills. Tell me that makes any sense!

My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, for man's anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires. James 1:19-20 NIV

It would have been so easy to have become angry. It would have been so easy to let that pharmacist have “a piece of my mind.” But what eternal good would have come from that? We smiled and thanked the pharmacist for spending the time with us and explaining our options thoroughly. I do not know that any eternal good came from the encounter, but at least no eternal harm transpired.

So when things do not go smoothly—do not go as planned—become irritating—I am NOT to become angry and disagreeable. I am to boldly and politely state the facts and remember my anger can cause much harm when used for anything but offenses against my God.

Lord, thank you for instructing us on how to live. Your perfect guide book for our lives is flawless for every situation.