Matt. 23:24 - 24“Blind guides, who strain out a gnat and
swallow a camel!
During the summer of 1970, a certain individual worked for
a road construction company that was rebuilding U.S.
highway 90 along the Mississippi gulf coast. This, follow-
ing the devastation of hurricane Camille the previous
summer. Long work days began at about daybreak.
Without even the hint of a breeze at that hour, the waters of
the Gulf of Mexico were as still as a sheet of glass. The
freshness of these mornings might have been more fully
enjoyed, if it had not been for another phenomenon
familiar to Gulf Coast dwellers...gnats. Down there,
anyone foolish enough to come near the sandy beach that
early on certain summer mornings would be attacked. So
small that you can hardly see them...these gnats bite with a
torment that is out of all proportion to their size. By
mid-morning they’ve disappeared, but for the first few
hours of the day they are enough to make a grown man cry.
Joe Bridges, from Tylertown, Mississippi, had been a
common laborer for many long years and had followed
construction jobs all over the South. In a patient, rhythmic
way he worked in difficult conditions, and this morning
was no exception. As one man furiously fought the gnats
and said unappreciative things about the day in which he I
was born, Joe seemed to take only slight notice of the
annoying little insects.
‘Man, how in the world can you stand this?’, the first man
finally screamed., ‘Don’t these gnats bother you?’
‘Well,’ Joe said, looking at him sideways as he adjusted his
hard hat a little, ‘I guess they would.....if I let ‘em.’
Folks who have known what real hardship is do not pay
much attention to gnats.
I. Our lives are dominated by relatively minor vexations.
A. If we took the time to think and to place
importance where importance really belonged....
we know that we should not give these things the
honor of a second’s thought.
1. Instead of rising above these things and setting
our eyes on the important things of this life,
we concentrate on the gnats and let the things
that are important go unheeded.
Matt. 23:23 - 23“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees,
hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint and anise and
cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the
law: justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have
done, without leaving the others undone.
a. We have all heard the saying, “the
squeaky wheel gets the grease”......why
does it get the grease?
1.) Are there not more important
things than squeaky wheels?
a.) The squeaky wheel gets the
grease because we cannot
stand to have our ears
annoyed.....and while we are
greasing the squeaky wheel,
we forget to put in gasoline.
B. Vexation (annoyance) comes in many forms and
circumstances.
1. They come from people who do not do what
we think that they should.
2. They come from people who do things
in a different way than we would do them.
3. They come from circumstances that we find
ourselves in......things that we would be
happier to NEVER BE INVOLVED WITH!
4. They can come from our own inability to do
or not do what we intend.
** A measure of a person is the size of what it takes to
annoy that person.
II. Our inability to cope with the “gnats of annoyance” in
our lives can be traced directly to....a failure of
self-discipline with regard to the basic issues of
irritability.
A. Annoyance brought about because of “gnats” may
not, in itself, be a sin....but this failure to control
the emotions can certainly become a sin.
1. We get annoyed only if and when we choose
to be annoyed.
B. The tendency to become annoyed opens wide the
heart to all manner of evil things.
Prov. 25:28 - 28 Whoever has no rule over his own
spirit Is like a city broken down, without walls.
Prov. 16:32 - 32 He who is slow to anger is better than
the mighty, And he who rules his spirit than he who takes a
city.
Prov. 19:11 - 11 The discretion of a man
makes him slow to anger, And his glory is to
overlook a transgression.
I Peter 4:8 - 8And above all things have fervent love for
one another, for “love will cover a multitude of sins.”
I Cor. 13:5 - 5does not behave rudely, does not seek its
own, is not easily provoked, thinks no evil.
1. I can think of a multitude of sins that come, as
a direct result of being provoked by a gnat.
a. Anger (display of violent temper)
b. Quarrels
c. Revenge (Vengeance or “pay back time”)
d. Hatred (the opposite of love)
e. bitterness
f. Murder (carried out physically or in a
person’s heart)
g. Impatience and lack of “long suffering”
h. Feelings of superiority and disdain
i. Feelings of helplessness and an inability
to cope.
** The tendency to be easily annoyed is something far
more serious than a “quirkey little personality trait”.
1. It reflects our inability to deal with people or
circumstances which God has allowed to come our
way.
a. We fail the test....in other words.
1.) We have not taken control of self, yet....
and, indeed......it appears that self has
retaken the fort.
II Tim. 3:1-5 - 1But know this, that in the last days
perilous times will come: 2For men will be lovers of
themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers,
disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, 3unloving,
unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal,
despisers of good, 4traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of
pleasure rather than lovers of God,
5having a form of godliness but denying its power. And
from such people turn away!
a.) We can...and have....applied this
verse to those outside of Christ,
but can these verses equally apply
to those who think that they are
truly Christians, but have not
brought the base emotions under
control?
III. We must not only be self-disciplined, but we must be
wise with a wisdom that can only come from God.
A. We need to have a thorough and firm grasp of
what God wants in our lives and not allow
ourselves to be sidetracked and led into sin by the
petty annoyances of life.
James 3:13-17 - 13Who is wise and understanding among
you? Let him show by good conduct that his works are
done in the meekness of wisdom. 14But if you have bitter
envy and self-seeking in your hearts, do not boast and lie
against the truth. 15This wisdom does not descend from
above, but is earthly, sensual, demonic. 16For where envy
and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are
there. 17But the wisdom that is from above is first pure,
then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and
good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy.
1. Envy and self-seeking are merely the
by-product of a heart that has not been given
completely over to God.........it is a heart
that still lives and beats for self and nobody
else.
a. The wisdom that is from above.....the
wisdom that we must have within our
hearts would not allow us to be annoyed
by the inconsequential little things of this
world.
1.) That wisdom is:
a.) Pure
** Pure means that the impure thoughts, motives, and
actions of the world are no longer present.
b.) Peaceable
** This person wants to be at peace and make peace with
all mankind....this person is not a scrapper.....certainly not
at the “drop of a hat”.
c.) Gentle
** From the Greek word: epieikas.....gentle, moderate,
patient......not brash, bold, or impatient.
d.) Willing to yield
** Can allow someone else to be right,.....can allow
someone else to have his/her own way.
e.) Full of mercy
** Even when this person has been improperly treated in
some way, ......he/she is still willing to forgive.
f.) Full of good fruits (fruit of the
Spirit?)
** Love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness,
faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control........even when
gnats are biting at the eyes.
g.) Without partiality
** We don’t put up with some gnats, but slap at other
gnats...........all gnats are treated equally.
h.) Without hypocrisy
** A Christian will display these traits.....not as a phony...
just on the outside while he/she seethes on the
inside.......no, this person will work at changing the heart
so that the good things that he/she displays comes from a
good heart.
Matt. 12:35 - 35“A good man out of the good treasure of
his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of
the evil treasure brings forth evil things.
IV. Consider these “gnats of annoyance” a test that has
been allowed of God.
A. If we cannot overcome in these little, petty
annoyances of life......how will we be overcomers
in the trials that can vex the soul?
Matt. 25:23 - 23“His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good
and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few
things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into
the joy of your lord.’
1. This life is the only testing or “proving ground
that we are ever going to encounter.
a. We must be ready to do the job that God
has called upon us to perform.....even if
there are gnats all around us.
2. We must not lose sight of who’s we are...what
we have been placed here for...and what is
expected of us, if we wish to succeed in the
things that count for eternity.
a. Annoyances are attempts, by satan, to
derail our train.
1.) It really does not take much to
derail a train and it could come
down to only a gnat of annoyance
and frustration which would send
a person to an eternity of pain and
torments.
B. We all imagine ourselves going through some
terrible test of martyrdom.
1. Let me say this.....if a person can’t stand the
pain of a match, he won’t stand for the pain
of the stake.
a. If pain, suffering, annoyance, hurt
feelings, and the like cause a person
to crumble or to “loose their cool”......
the real tests of a Christian’s character
will be totally overwhelming.
CONCLUSION:
Most of us would like to have more peace of mind.
A. We could have what we wanted if we could learn
to overlook the gnats of life.
1. These little annoyances can lead to our
spiritual destruction.
As Christians, we need to cultivate......Love, that is not
easily provoked.....patience and long-suffering, which allow
us to put up with the foibles of others....mercy, the ability
to forgive when we could crush (physically, emotionally, or
spiritually).
A. The Christian is able to keep their rights and
powers under control.
1. We should be willing to make sacrifices.....
sacrifices which cause hurt and suffering.....
for the sake of God and of others who are
struggling along in this world of sin.
Those who live for self, will continue to be annoyed by the
gnats of life.
A. It is only in rising above self and living for others
that we can rise above sin and be able to put up
with the gnats of life.
Romans 12:21 - 21Do not be overcome by evil, but
overcome evil with good.
