Life can be difficult, and life may be really difficult for you right now. Let me tell you, there are people around you who have it worse. We have no idea the difficulties others right around us are living with. We don’t know what’s going on behind their closed doors. Their marriage may be falling apart, their children may not speak to them, they may be struggling to put food on their table, they may be questioning their faith, their purpose, their worth, their very will to live. And God has very specific direction for us today regarding this:

Romans 4:13 the MSG translation says “Forget about deciding what’s right for each other, here’s what you need to be concerned about, that you don’t get in the way of someone else, making life more difficult than it already is.”

Essentially God is saying GET OVER YOURSELF AND GET OUT OF THE WAY.

What’s right for you may not be right for everyone else. Stop trying to convince them. Your pushing will never persuade them to live a better life. You know what will? Your loving example. What’s truly rare today is the person willing to look at the differences of others with nothing but pure love for their soul and eyes set on their potential for goodness. What’s truly common today is each of us making it more difficult for the other person.

How have we been making life more difficult for people? Oh, we pour salt on a wound, we pour gas on a fire, we repay rudeness with rudeness. The jackwagon in you brings out the jackwagon in me, then we’re all running around acting like a bunch of jackwagons.

We see a post on Facebook we disagree with and we start a war. We’re quick to pass out judgment, forgetting we ourselves are subject to judgment, yet the almighty has pardoned us.

What if we all just began assuming the best in others? What if we assume that the person acting like a jackwagon was having the worst day of his life and all he needs is a little love and grace offered by those around him? Be one of those people. Just offer some love and grace. See his potential and assume the best in him.

Let me tell you something about the person who is hurting you in your life. Hurt people hurt people. They’re hurting, and their response to that hurt is to hurt someone else.

Last week hubby and I were sitting on a bench in downtown El Paso sipping a cup of coffee. A young man walks by us and suddenly begins attacking the orange and white traffic barrel at the intersection. I’m pretty sure that traffic barrel didn’t insult him in any way, yet he attacked it with his anger. When the barrel proved to be weighted and unaffected by his attempts to turn it over, he walked on down the street and the next thing in his path was an elderly man. And right there in front of my eyes, this young fella filled with rage attacked this innocent man. He didn’t know him. Words had not been exchanged, he just wanted to hurt someone, something, anything because of the hurt within him.

My husband along with other complete strangers spring into action to protect and defend the elderly man. And all I could think of is what had gone so wrong in this young man’s morning that he wanted to hurt on that level? What demons was he battling to cause him to lash out?

Hurt people hurt people.
Don’t’ you see that in your life? The person in your world who is hurting you is simply hurting, and they don’t know what to do with that hurt, so they pour it out on you. We’re all just a bunch of hurt people hurting people.

But let the cycle stop with you. Be kinder than necessary. See their hurt and be sympathetic. Don’t pour that hurt onto someone else.

Example – you’ve had a rough day at work. Your co-worker was short with you. Your boss was bossy and you’ve had one heck of a day. So you go home frustrated and you’re extra short with your kids and snap at your husband over the smallest of things. What’s really happening here is the cycle. You’re hurt, so now you unintentionally hurt others.

It’s the plan of the enemy for us to all lose faith in one another. It’s his grand plan to turn us all against one another. Why? Because united we stand, divided we fall. And don’t you see it happening all around you? Us all losing faith in one another? Us all nit picking, making little things into big things.

Social media must be a huge tool the enemy uses because look how he tries to divide. But I’m going to take a stand and stop believing the worst in others. Won’t you stand with me?

Stop believing the worst.

Stop assuming the worst.

Do not be disheartened, do not be discouraged, do not become a voice of negativity and despair.

Simply look harder for good people doing good things.

I am continually surrounded by good people doing good things. I see them everywhere. Why? Because I look for them. If you’re surrounded by idiots (or as my mama would say idgits) here’s why … you’re looking for idiots. You’re focusing on the wrong thing. Scripture tells us seek and we will find. If what you’re finding isn’t filling you up with goodness, then sister start seeking something different. We find exactly what we look for. If you’re looking for the color orange today, you’ll see it everywhere today like never before. If you’re looking for God’s fingerprints, you’ll see them. If you’re looking for all the reasons your life is radically blessed, you’ll find them in abundance … and isn’t that better than everything that annoys you being highlighted?

Hurt people hurt people. Yes, it’s true.
But loved people also love people. We are loved people. God’s love has covered us and saved us, now we can go into the world and give that love.
Forgiven people forgive people. Let the forgiveness God has freely given us create a tenderness within us towards others. I’m not here to judge your sin, I am not greater than you. I’m not here to talk about you, because heaven knows I sure don’t want people talking about me.

Today, if you have faith in God, then have faith in his children too. He is working through them. Look for good people doing good things and encourage them. And if you come across someone acting like a jackwagon, don’t you get all jackwagony in return. Nope, don’t you do it. Don’t you repay their rudeness with more rudeness. They are battling their own demons, how about you offer a prayer they overcome that demon? If you come across someone who is hurting and they’re dishing out their hurt by hurting others, stop the cycle. See their hurt and offer mercy.

God sure saw your hurt and offered mercy, didn’t he?

Let us not get in the way of someone else, making life more difficult than it already is. Get out of the way and get behind them! Find someone to champion today and call out the best in them. I believe that’s exactly what God wants his girls to be doing today. Seek good, find good, recognize good, talk about good – then go DO GOOD.