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Living Faith

People Challenges
Posted On: 10/29/2008  Posted By: DSimler-Goff
by: Debbie  Simler-Goff

 
Hi All,
 
My daughter had major spinal surgery in August so I've been focused on helping her and taking care of her 3 little ones. I give God the glory that she is doing very well and has recovered much better than the doctor's anticipated. With that behind me, I'm back in the writing saddle again so (hopefully) my posts will be more regular from now on.
 
Going through this with my daughter I was understandably more stressed and therefore less tolerant of others around me. I slipped for awhile into the 'grumbles'. But, thankfully, my loving heavenly father got my attention and made me realize most of my irritations and upsets were sourced in my own internal issues. The external stuff just caused it to come to the surface. Like if I was  holding a cup of coffee and someone bumped into me. What spills out isn't the person's fault... I'm the one that put the coffee in the cup!
 
And so it is with all of us. What comes out of us when life bumps us, isn't the situation itself - it's what's been inside of us all along. And the only way to fix what's inside is ask for God's help.
 
The reality is, I am the biggest hinderance to my spiritual growth.  I tend to focus on other's shortcomings when I have a plethora of my own.  While I have learned to vent my frustrations to God alone I'm far from having conquered this issue.
 
 But, even in this, as noble as this practice may seem, God has pointed out to me how very wrong I am.

 

Sometimes in sheer anguish I rail at God about the people in my life that frustrate me. But ultimately God takes my wagging finger and points it right back at me. In other words, I have enough stuff to work on in my own personal trash heap that I have no business yelling and throwing a fit with God demanding He clean up somebody else’s.

 

The Holy Bible says in Jeremiah 1:5 that God knew all of us before we were born. It says He knew us in our mother's womb. If the God of the universe, the creator of the galaxy, knows me that intimately then He is well acquainted with the good and bad in me. That's reason enough for me  to look to my own pile of struggles and leave everyone else’s alone.
 
What about you? Write and tell me how you deal with people challenges.

 


 

Comments/Replies: - [SUBMIT]

1: Hello all, I myself, am learning how to deal with the challenges of people in my every day life. I'm in the process of healing from emotional as well as spiritual abuse. So it's very easy for me to get frustrated when I feel that someone is trying to use me or are being selfish. One thing I am learning that perception is whole lot. Just because I'm offended by something doesn't mean that the person offending meant to offend me. I also had to learn that just as easily as someone may have hurt me, I could have hurt someone. I need to receive the same forgivness that I have to give to someone else. I'm learning how to ask God for wisdom on how to deal with my everyday relationships, on how close I should be bringing them into my life and how to let go of what's not important. I'm learning that I have the power to choose whether to be offended. It's up to me to use that power. I must admit it's not always easy because the flesh wants to act up. But If I concentrate more on what I can do to be pleasing unto God instead on what I can do to be pleasing unto man, or feel people should do to be pleasing unto me then I can operate under God's will and seek first His Righteousness. Joy and peace is added unto me daily.
Posted on: 11/7/2008 3:50:19 PM    Posted by: MWilliams