Don't Thrash Difficult People

It started out as a normal church talk. But it finished as a saving grace.
How many times have we wished that some difficult people will just disappear from our lives? An annoying colleague, an overbearing aunty, a grit-edged father and an ‘iron-lady’ for a mother... when will they just go from us? Maybe that’s putting it really hard. Consider this: why will your colleague in the office always be on the opposition? How come Aunt Sally has no love for you? What on earth makes your father so insensitive? I mean what profit does your mother get by always being on your neck? Why can’t Uncle Fred be (even for once) different from the cruel person you have always perceived him to be?
On another hand why will your brother never get his hands to do some domestic work? Why do you have to be the person to always do the dishes? I could go on. But the real question is why won’t God just make difficult people disappear from our lives? Why does he even make such people emanate from your backyard? Why does he make them the ones we can’t easily denounce and reject?
The truth is God is always preparing us. That’s putting it mildly. He is always fine-tuning us. That should be the reason. I mean why has your aches and pains from these difficult folks not gotten God’s attention all these years? He wants your rough edges to smoothen out. What is he doing by allowing these folks get to you? He is simply removing the brass, sandpapering you and chiselling the flakes that dot your side.
Before you switch off and say “Enough! Don’t tell me that”, think about all those times. How come you had not poisoned them to death? And also have found you doing stuff over and over again with same folks, day -in and day-out?
Hey! Don’t bother. Running away will do you no good. The battles we fight and run from today, are just around the bend tomorrow. They will show up anyhow, unannounced or otherwise.
The trick: Ask God to give you the grace to understand their purposes in your life. Besides who said that every person will be nice to you? Even Jesus Christ, had enemies and people who sought to take him to the grave on a daily basis, from within and without. Any reason why you should be spared?
Another trick: Change your attitude towards them. Be friendlier. Smile more. Get worked up no more. Don’t fume. Stop complaining. Lend a hand of friendship. Keep them close. And love unconditionally.
What if this brings no change? Try it out first. Leave the rest. You will be shocked how you will pass this life test with flying colours. Don’t rehearse it. Reverse it.