Life-Giving Words of Hope & Encouragement

Life is not too short; it’s that we wait too long to live and it’s not the big things that keep us from being happy; it’s the little things.  How we handle the little things will determine the life we will live.  We have a tendency to let things that should be insignificant turn into mountains, blowing everything out of proportion, and causing us to overreact to the smallest things.  There are enough big issues in life to deal with without making a big deal out of small inconveniences.  The problem we run into is the more we focus on something the bigger it becomes.

Quite often it is other people that get us bent out of shape; when they don’t do or aren’t exactly the way we want them to be, it frustrates us.  One little thing becomes bigger and bigger until it is a source of division that drives us apart.  What we must remember is that fixing people is not our job; it is God’s through the transforming power of the Holy Spirit.  God does not bring people into our lives for us to make them just like us.  We are all created individually, each with unique gifts and traits and if we are going to be happy, we need to learn how to appreciate the differences that usually lead us to become resentful.  Nobody is perfect and our job is not to fix people; our job is to love people.  While we are waiting for others to change, God is often times waiting for us to change.

Every one of us has strengths, but if we are not careful, those same strengths can turn into weaknesses.  For example, I am a very structured and organized person, I like things to go where they are supposed to go, and I like to be a part of the solution.  These are all great traits, but if I’m not careful, I can attempt to fit people into my mold, so they can be just like me.  That’s a scary thought… two of me!  We must give people room for them to become what God has called them to be and we must allow the people God brings into our life to compliment us, not frustrate and annoy us.  Just because people aren’t like us, doesn’t mean they are wrong; it just means they are different.  We should instead focus on peoples’ strengths while making allowances for their weaknesses.