It is fascinating to reflect on that we are all made in God’s image because of His infinite love and goodness for us human beings. Yet, God has given us each special gifts, talents, and attributes so that no two of us are exactly alike. Our individual lives take different roads and are filled with different experiences, often dependent to a great extent upon the families we are born into. In God’s mercy and compassion, I believe He puts people and opportunities in our path to help us overcome obstacles that can change the trajectory of our lives. Sharing our stories can bring encouragement and hope to others and is a way to form spiritual relationships with others. We learn from each other as we journey together.
My life has been blessed by a lady at a day retreat who commented on the Christian T-shirt I was wearing as I helped hand out papers. That simple encounter has led to a spiritual friendship as we take time to talk on the phone and get together for lunch despite living 1 1/2 hours away from one another. Learning some of her story and seeing how she lives her faith out each day encourages my faith journey and helps me see how I can grow more. She treats everyone with great kindness and love, will step out to make everyone feel important and noticed, and offers strangers a friendly “Hello” or “God bless you.”
Photo courtesy of Chronic Joy® under Creative Commons License (CC BY-NC 2.0)
We meet at a restaurant where she knows several of the employees by name. I listened as she was conversing with a younger man the first day I saw him. It sounded like he was a believer. I thought about going to my car and seeing if he would be interested in one of the 90-Day Devotionals I have published, but I did not follow through with it that time. When my friend and I got together recently, this man took our order, and I felt like it was a sign to get the books from my car to see if he would be interested in one. I was happy when he said he would appreciate one that he picked out. He was in awe of meeting an author and said he wanted to show us something after his shift ended.
He pulled up a chair and, from his backpack, took out a book that he had recently self-published! Even more amazing was finding out that, while still in his twenties, he has published more than four books already. It was such a pleasure to listen to some of his story and to see the wisdom, well beyond his years, that he has already gained. His life has been quite challenging, yet he, like my lady friend, provides evidence that we can overcome obstacles or difficult circumstances in our lives. God’s grace allows this to happen if we are open to it.
Photo courtesy of Barbara under Creative Commons License (CC BY 2.0)
While thinking of these friends, I reflected on three important takeaways from our conversations that day:
*It is important to forgive people and not hold grudges.
Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others. –Colossians 3:13 (NLT)
We are all humans and, therefore, not perfect. In our relationships, it is important to forgive one another for the shortcomings we all have. From the beginning, Adam and Eve sinned by eating from the tree of knowledge that God told them not to. God loves us all so much that He sent Jesus to earth as an atoning sacrifice, and His blood sets us free from our sins!
In our humanity, sometimes we mess up big time. The hurts that are inflicted upon us may be unintentional, but they run very deep, leaving us scarred. Can we work on letting go of the deep hurts that we have experienced and truly forgive others? Can we remember how Jesus endured such agony so we may live in freedom as we forgive others?
*We can learn how to manage our anger in healthy ways.
And “don’t sin by letting anger control you.” Don’t let the sun go down while you are still angry, for anger gives a foothold to the devil. –Ephesians 4:26-27 (NLT)
As humans, it is natural to sometimes feel anger. Paul, in his letter to the Ephesians, encourages us all to make sure our anger does not control us and to release our anger daily. If we let anger build up in us, the evil one has a foothold to get us more and more off track and further from God.
As the restaurant employee shared, he catches himself quicker nowadays when he starts to get angry. He then tries to switch his mindset to let the anger not control him. We can say a quick prayer asking God to help us release the anger, remind ourselves that we all make mistakes, or call on the name of Jesus to help us.
*We can overcome obstacles and hardships.
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: “For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. –Romans 8:35-39 (NIV)
We can overcome obstacles and hardships because of God’s great love for each of us. No matter what hardships we face, whether we lose all we have like Job or are persecuted, we are still victorious because we have Christ’s love that is always present! His love cannot be taken from us; it is part of us!
The things of this earth, like what we eat, wear, or do, are only temporary. The one thing that lasts forever is the love of Christ and the victory we have with that love. Nothing in this world compares to Christ’s love!
Photo courtesy of BK under Creative Commons License (CC BY-SA 2.0)
I remain in awe of listening to people’s stories and often times the deep heartache they have endured. My spirit is always renewed when I hear how they have overcome adversity in large part because of faith and God’s grace. Often, a big factor is having someone believe in them and offer them encouragement. Once one person speaks life into their spirit, it gives them courage and strength to know they can continue to grow. We can offer each other the gift of hope; we can make positive changes and be different as we spur one another on in this life.
Be encouraged this week to…
…forgive others sincerely.
…manage anger in healthy ways.
…work on overcoming obstacles and hardships with Christ’s love.
…extend kindness and love to those you encounter.
…take time to socialize and learn someone’s story.
…reflect on lessons from someone you interact with.
REFLECTION:
Is there someone you can talk with to learn some of their story?
What lessons have you learned after hearing a friend’s story?
Please feel free to share any answers to the reflection questions in the comment section below. I appreciate your sharing!
As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another. –Proverbs 27:17 (NIV)
