Responding to Difficulty

This is a picture of Gimli cuddling with our friend Jeremy. They are our dog sitters any time we go out of town and can't take them with us. They have two schnauzers also and a big back yard, so going to their house is like doggie summer camp! As you can tell, Gimli is really missing us right now... yeah, right! Of course, when we came back, he was so excited to see us, but at this moment, he is content being a part of the new family pack. When we first dropped him off, he was nervous and unsettled. We try to sneak out without him noticing so he won't freak out at our departure. Usually it takes him a few days to warm up at his temporary home, but as you can see, by this point, he's accepted the situation and is content. 

Gimli was not in control of the decision for him to spend a week at our friends' house while we were out of town, but we, his care givers, were, and made that choice because it was in his best interest. God has been challenging me a lot recently with being faithful and giving my very best with whatever I am entrusted with. Sometimes, the things God has entrusted me with are not what I want to be doing. Many of the responsibilities in my life are not fun, exciting, spiritual, or easy. But that is irrelevant to how I am called to respond. What matters is that I've been entrusted with a responsibility by the God of the Universe and my personal Savior, and out of love, obedience and trust in Him, I must follow through to the best of my ability. A lot of life we can control, and we must accept responsibility for those choices, commitments & consequences. But sometimes, we must accept circumstances that are beyond our control also. In circumstances where we are not in control, the situation is not what we would have chosen, and we suffer consequences as a result, it can be so difficult to remember that though we were not in control, God was, and chose to put us in that situation for a reason.

I am often tempted to think that because a circumstance was not of my choosing that I have a free pass to be bitter, complaining, and disobedient. Or because a person treats me unfairly or disrespectfully, that I am allowed to respond to them with disrespect as well because "they did it to me first and they deserve it." Things will never go exactly how I'd like for them to, and I won't be treated kindly by everyone. That's just life. We can't control every situation or person, but we can control how we respond to them. God is honored when we respond to difficult situations with a positive attitude and seek to bring Him glory with our response. It is not pleasing to Him when we respond with ingratitude, unkindness and selfishness.

We may not get to choose every circumstance we find ourselves in, and every person we must interact with, but we can trust that the One who is in control will provide for us what we need to navigate through these challenges if we will rely on Him.

"Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters,  since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving." -Colossians 3:23


"Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you." -Ephesians 4:32

Kindness

When we first got Virginia, she immediately began showing affection to all of us. Paul and I loved this of course, but Gimli wasn't so sure. She would come try to snuggle up to him for a nap, and he would get up and move, or push her out of the way. He would find a new place to sleep, she'd follow him there, try to cuddle, he'd move, she'd follow him again, and on and on. They'd do this little dance all around the room for hours. She didn't quite get the memo that he wasn't interested, or at least she wasn't deterred by it. Over time, Gimli started to warm up to her little by little. He let her lay next to his dog bed, and then he let her put her head on the dog bed, then before we knew it, they would cuddle on the dog bed even though it was too small for both of them. She won him over with her sweetness and love.

My mom always told me, "Honey draws more flies than vinegar." It's true- people like to be around nice people and don't want to be around mean people. As Christians, it is exceedingly important that we show kindness to others in every situation, no matter how the other person is responding. We are representing Christ to the world that needs Him, and they will associate our attitudes and actions with Him. What a huge responsibility! I love the saying, "No one cares how much you know until they know how much you care." Why would anyone want to serve the God of a person they don't like or respect? It's also important that we not give up on being kind even when others are not kind in response. Sometimes those who seem the farthest off are often the closest to being ready to trust Christ. We have no idea what's going on in people's lives, what they've experienced, how others have hurt them in the past, and if they are rebelling against God's tugging on their hearts. Unfortunately, many people have been hurt by mean Christians, and therefore we have to be even more kind to them to make up for those negative experiences. It's worth it because every person in the world is irreplaceable and invaluable to God, and if we don't share with them about Jesus' love for them, who will?

I pray that I would be diligent and not give up showing kindness to others like Virginia, so that others might be won over to Jesus because they experienced a little taste of His love for them through me. What an honor that would be!