Handling What Bugs You
Think about it: the life of a frog. Not very complicated is it. You get to sit around most of the day. And those pesky bugs, that mostly cause nuisance and annoyance, those are your lunch. Matter of fact, they’re breakfast, lunch and supper.
Life for the rest of us doesn’t work like that. We have to find a way to cope or maintain a civilized lifestyle. The bugs in your life may be the neighbor next door, invasive traffic on the Deerfoot, a clerk with a bad attitude, that family member who knows your hot button or a work associate who just won’t “grow up”.
We are continually surrounded by relationships. Some we like and others we could do without. We’ve heard the saying, “No man is an island unto himself,” and the longer we walk this planet, the more we realize it’s true.
Let me throw a curve ball at you, so to speak. Rather than waiting for all that bugs us to change or disappear, maybe part of the solution is with each of us. In the Bible, the book of Galatians, chapter 5 talks about the fruit of the Spirit. This fruit is the evidence of Jesus living in a person. This is uplifting: Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. I know, it seems there are some people you just can’t please. But if this list were evident in your life wouldn’t you agree that others would be more drawn to you, in a positive way?
The story is told this past week of a man who had inherited a sum of money and wanted to freely give it to others. So for a couple hours he stood at a service station and bought people’s gas for them to the cumulative amount of some $2 000.00. All he asked was that people would do what they could to return the kind gesture in some fashion to others. You should have seen the smile, and amazement, on people’s faces.
Let me encourage you to think about letting Jesus work in your life. Jesus wants your life to reflect the fruit listed above, if you’ll trust Him to do so. You’re not going to get the luxury of eating what bugs you. A good alternative is to be a source of amazement in our society.
