Difficult
People
"Many are the afflictions OF THE RIGHTEOUS, but the Lord delivers them from
them all."
Psalm 35:19
DIFFICULT PEOPLE
Daily, unless we are holed up alone in a house, we face difficult people as we
go about our lives. Some may be in a grocery store. They may work with you or
even go to your church. The simple fact is that they are going to be all
around you – sometimes and places more than others.
Paul referred to having a thorn in the flesh. These people can seem to be much
more than a thorn. You think that they may be a whole thorn bush! Yet the fact
remains that they are here and no one can change them. If they leave your
grocery store, your work, or even your church, others will pop up to take
their place. These people have been around since before Jesus came and walked
the earth and they will be here until He returns. As a matter of fact, He ran
into many of them during His time here.
Having established that they are here and unavoidable and that they are not
going anywhere and that we are unable to make anyone disappear, the response
to them falls upon us. Individually. See, you can't make difficult people go
away, but you can change the way you respond to them.
My husband and I are always seeing the best in people. So many are the most
incredible and Christ filled people. These people love to serve and help
others, live not for themselves, but to help others. They can't stand it when
there is injustice around them and seek ways to soothe others who are hurting.
But in this mixture of people are the difficult people. Those who live to
themselves. Those who want to make life easier for themselves and for those
immediately around them. Those who judge or falsely accuse others. Those who
think nothing of saying evil or bad things about someone to get their desired
end.
Those who say they know Jesus but who speak nothing like Him.
These people call us to dig deep within ourselves in order to respond
correctly. Remember Cain and Able? God accepted Abel's sacrifice and rejected
Cain's. This caused Cain's human emotions to become demonic. I say demonic
because it is normal to feel anger. It is normal to feel hurt. It is normal to
feel discouraged. These are all "human" emotions. And God came to Cain while
he was feeling these human emotions and pleaded with him to respond to them
correctly. God told him, "If you respond correctly, you will be accepted. But
be careful, if not, sin is waiting at the door and its desire is to destroy
you. You must subdue it." If you don't respond correctly to human emotions
they can become demonic emotions.
God is saying that no matter how ungodly our human emotions feel – rejection,
anger, or hurt, we must deal with it correctly so it will not go to the
demonic realm: hatred, bitterness and death. For Cain, it wasn't a difficult
person that brought this our in him. It was a difficult situation. But
whatever it is that is coming across your path, there is a right way and a
wrong way to respond to it.
At many times, God will call me to walk away and just pray. Recently we had
some people come across our path and accuse us of rather hurtful actions;
things my husband and I would never have even considered saying or doing. But
we listened to them and attempted to subdue it by bringing the truth to the
table. Many times that will diffuse the problem. Sometimes it won't be. So how
do you respond when it isn't and the difficult people are still coming in on
you.
Listen to God.
When Israel fought the battles in the Old Testament, they never went into one
battle with the last battles plan. It was different every time. Even if they
had overcome 100,000 people with a great strategy from God, the next time they
had to find out God's plan or they risked being defeated. The Bible says our
battles belong to God. Big or small, they are His fights, not ours. When
people rage against us, the battle belongs to the Lord. When someone you work
with is trying to take you out or get you fired, the battle belongs to the
Lord. When someone is railing against you falsely, the battle belongs to the
Lord. And you have to listen to Him if you want to subdue it. There is a right
way and a wrong way.
In the past, there are a couple of ways God has taken me through a battle. One
is to pray and not fight back. The Bible says to pray for those that hurt us
and accuse us falsely. It is a high calling that goes against all natural
instincts. But it is a Spiritual instinct that will win. To pray and do good,
to not repay evil with evil, to stand and love and bless is a powerful weapon.
It destroys Satan's weapons because nothing in his artillery remotely looks
like that. He has nothing to resist it. Humility, blessing, praying and loving
are foreign concepts to his camp. Keep them close to your heart.
At times, Jesus had to walk this out. The Pharisees or Sadducees would come
against him with accusations, and He didn't always respond. But at times, the
battle plan of God was to have Him respond. At those times, He rebuked, turned
over tables, and spoke the truth of God to them forcefully. But it came from
the place of blessing, love, pray and humility. If it hadn't, it would not
have looked like God. Don't take matters into your own hands. Jesus said He
did nothing that the Father did not do. He didn't wake up and just decide for
Himself the best plan of action for His day or His calling. He waited, prayed,
blessed, and loved from a humble heart and God could guide Him. At times God
may guide you to speak out the truth.
Stay humble.
Stay full of blessing and not cursing. Stay full of love and not repaying
others for what they have done or are doing.
The battle belongs to the Lord. He will vindicate. He will repay. He will.
Just make sure your heart is not affected or infected by difficult people.
Don't let their infections infect you…making you look more like them in the
end than God. He will fight for you. Follow His plan. Victory, even heart
victory, is sweet in the timing of God.
Living for the Call,
Michelle Molina