God is Personal

It's funny how God will bring you full circle when he is trying to teach you something.  You think you've got it, and then he shows you another angle.

I was watching a pastor on television over the weekend.  The sermon was recorded in the 1970s with the men sporting those fat ties and ladies with their butterfly collars and wispy long hair.  But, what he said was relevant to what had been going on with me, thirty some years later.  What he said and what I had read earlier that morning from Oswald Chambers reminded me that no matter what others may do, those actions should not make me love them less.  That no matter what situation I find myself in or how hurt I may be...I still need to love them.  That even though what they say may hurt, I have to remember what God says.  That He is the truth.  I need to get more and more to the point where what others do and say is not so important to me.  That what is most important is what God says and does.

I realize this is not always the case.  I can get consumed with what others think, how I can please them or help them and make them not be upset with me if they are.  This is really a waste of time, because human beings will always find something to be upset and angry about whether justifiably so or not.  If I have done all I know to be right, I cannot make others know that truth.  I can pray that they will, but if they choose not to see the truth for what it is and hurt me, I cannot make that my burden.  I was not made to please men, but God and God alone.

How difficult it can be to press on when the world is pressing on you.  God never lies, and he said he would be our strength, our comfort, our shield and defender.  He will never leave us.  No matter what others may do out of malice, jealousy or their own pain, they are not ours to heal.  They are God's. 

Although what we do to each other hurts God too, he makes it his personal mission to continue to work on us.  We are most important to him.  So, why do we give other people such power over us and resist surrender to him?  We put them in God's seat when they just don't fit.  This is one of my weaknesses. I pray to keep pressing on with only God in sight.  It's a journey that is worth the fight.

Don't Take it Personally

Have you ever felt like someone just plunged a dagger into your heart by the words they say or actions they did or did not take?  I know we all have.  When it happens to me, I try to step back from my shock and pain and think about where they are coming from.  In many cases, they didn't see it as something personal.  It was business or just par for the course to them.  I try to give them the benefit of the doubt knowing they don't realize how much pain I am in.

I do this because I don't want to be angry and bitter.  I don't want to hold a grudge as I am apt to do.  I want to logically think about this event that seems so illogical to me.  Thinking about the feelings of someone else is always on my mind.  I never want to say or do something that hurts another person.  This can be an asset or a defect in some situations.  I guess, when those oblivious people hurt me, I want give them just a little bit of the overabundance of concern I seem to carry with me.

It baffles me how insensitive people can be.  We can be completely unaware of how hurtful we are.  We get so consumed with our own lives, with our own agendas, that we don't even think that we can affect others in such a way.  The truth is, when any human being comes in contact with another, they influence the other.  We have the power to make someones day or make someones day terrible.

How can any interaction between two human beings not be personal?  Whether we say it's just business or not, the moment we begin our interaction, some type of feelings begin to develop.  We aren't robots.  We are beings made of flesh and blood.  The arrows of insult don't bounce off of us like we are made of steel.  No, they penetrate and can become infected.

We may not be aware that the fiery arrow we let go was not deflected, and it's recipient is struggling to pull it out of their chest.  We may have gone on with our day without a care, but they are weak and bleeding.  My prayer today is for us to remember how human we are and take that into account when interacting with other people.  My prayer is for those hurting from unintended insults to gather their strength, get up and move on.  You can't lead a happy life without some give and take.