Everyday Irritations

Written by Lawanda Martinez

What has you inflamed and irritated? Is your mind racing? Do you feel as if you’re banging your head against a wall or do you just plain have a headache? Are you frantic with fear, panicking in an attempt to escape? Are you longing for relief? Psalms 23 could contain the very remedy that you’re searching for. Psalm 23 is generally narrated during times of death and grief, and often recited at funerals. Yet that depiction is only one facet of the Psalm. Think about the signature Life Builder bracelet that all first time guests receive. This bracelet reflects a great deal of light because it is multifaceted. The 23^rd Psalm has many facets. One of the facets in the illustration of how the good shepherd cares for his sheep may be the very remedy that beautifully reflects the light needed to calm irritations.  David was a good shepherd who paid careful attention to his sheep. He noticed when his sheep were troubled. Sheep are especially bothered by nasal flies. These little flies buzz around the sheep’s head, attempting to lay eggs on the sheep’s nose. If the eggs hatch it will form a worm-like larvae. The larvae worm then works its way up the nasal passages into the sheep’s head, creating intense irritation and inflammation.

To relieve these agonizing irritations, sheep deliberately beat their heads against trees or anything nearby. They will rub their head in the muddy soil and smack their head against wood. In extreme cases of intense infestation, a sheep may even kill itself. Advanced stages of nasal fly infection can even lead to blindness. When nose flies hover around the flock, some of the sheep become frantic with fear and panic in their attempt to escape their tormentors. As a result, those fearful sheep create a disturbance amongst the flock. There are times we may respond to irritations in the same way. Maybe it started with being nosy, getting in other people’s business. It could have been a situation that overwhelmed you with fear and anxiety. Maybe you continued focusing on the negativity in your life and a larvae worm was formed. You may have tried many ways to get relief like the sheep, but only found yourself muddied and dirtied. In your fear you may have even disrupted the flock and caused them to become fearful too.

 It is a good thing that the shepherd knows the season when the flies are amongst the flock. This reveals another facet of this Psalm- a remedy for the irritation. During fly season the shepherd applies an antidote to the sheep’s head. He prepares a homemade oil remedy to smear over the sheep’s nose and head to protect the sheep from the nose flies. If the sheep were chaotic and frantic this oil remedy would cause the sheep to calm down and feed quietly again, in peaceful contentment. This cure could very well be what David meant when he wrote, “Thou anointest my head with oil,” as it was the only antidote to the sheep’s irritation. What are you smearing or saturating your mind with. Is it thoughts of panic, worry or fear? Is it fault-finding, judging or criticizing others? Is it lies about your identity? If that is the case, keep this in mind, we too can apply an oil antidote to our heads named Holy Spirit. Isaiah 61:1 KJV describes the Holy Spirit as oil, The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me to bring good news to the afflicted; He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to captives and freedom to prisoners.

 The irritation can start by judging others or getting offended and irritated with people. However we should not dwell on negativity. We are to love; in fact we are commanded to love one another. One of the prescriptions and instructions that teach us how to love can be found in 1 Corinthians 13:5-6 NKJV Love does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

 If a person who causes irritation, it would be so much more beneficial to love them to life instead of judging them to death. Loving them to life empowers both of you with love.  Let us draw closer to the Good Shepherd and allow him to anoint our head with oil today. Let us abide in His peaceful contentment and rest, this way we can assemble together in peace and feed with the flock.