As a child of the 80s I grew up listening to music with a moral message. The songs were easy to remember, catchy, and taught you how to remember your phone number, what to do if you got in a fight, and even where hymns came from.

Yes, very educational. And sometimes I catch myself humming the tune to one or more of those songs. For example, whenever someone mentions the phrase “have patience” no matter the context I immediately start humming Music Machine.

Have patience, have patience
Don't be in such a hurry
When you get impatient, you only start to worry
Remember, remember that God is patient too
And think of all the times when others have to wait for you

It's a cute song but comes off as rather patronizing when I find myself in a situation where I actually require patience. Like driving. The last thing I want to do is have patience.

Since moving into a city I've seen it all: stalls, accidents, jams, construction, road closures, “police incidents,” debris, jack knifed semis, power outages, traffic light malfunctions, fallen trees, etc. And that's not even counting the usual congestion caused by school zones, merge lanes, and roundabouts. Reminding myself to “have patience” while driving doesn't seem as gratifying a solution as honking or shaking my fist.

However, recently I've realized giving in to road rage (or rage of any kind) is exactly the opposite of what God wants for us. Through studying Galatians 5 I learned how to live according to the Holy Spirit and trusting God to give me the strength to have patience, to live graciously, and to find joy in my situations.

I write more about this realization in September's LifeTrac article. Have a look and let me know ways you've found effective for dealing with life's stressors and living more like Christ.