Not Easy part 3
When someone does us wrong, I think our first instinct is either fight or flight. We either want to give them back an eye for an eye (and back it up Biblically) or we want to build a giant wall between us and that person. And that second one is kind of the thought I've been grappling with for a while now, and really kind of the whole reason for this Rant series. (You didn't think I wrote every day because I have things all figured out, did you? I write because it helps me figure things out!) Here's where I at: You can love someone, and avoid them, right? We love everybody, but that doesn't mean we have to LIKE everybody, right? And I gotta be honest, I'm pretty sure that was just me being selfish. Because love is unconditional. It has absolutely nothing to do with the other person (or with you, for that matter). When we start to try to decide when and where to love that's when love stops being love at all. And I said this already but I think it bears repeating: There ARE some people that I can't reach. Some people, when I start to talk, hear white noise. And that's where one of my favorite catchphrases comes in. "Do your best and forget the rest." Because I'm not RESPONSIBLE for reaching everybody. But I am responsible for LOVING everybody. And once I've given everything I am and everything I have... its either enough, or its not. If its enough, great. If its not... let me say it like this, "And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear your words, when ye depart out of that house or city, shake off the dust of your feet" (Matthew 10:14). I like it even better in the Message Bible, "If they don't welcome you, quietly withdraw. Don't make a scene. Shrug your shoulders and be on your way." Again: Do your best and forget the rest. Don't kill yourself trying to make a square peg fit into a round hole. But I feel like if those same people then turned around and came to you for help... you oughta help them. Maybe they couldn't receive you AT THAT TIME. You know? We're all on the same journey (the never-ending life-long journey into the heart of the matter, which is the heart) but we're also all at very different points in that journey. Those people that hear the adults from Charlie Brown when I talk, "Wah wah wah wah wah," they might be able to pick up what I'm laying down later on. And if I close the door on them, then I'M the one being selfish. So I guess my point is, the easy thing to do when you reach out and your hand gets slapped away is to stop reaching out. But the LOVING thing to do is to reach out regardless. Like that old saying, "Don't cross an ocean for someone who wouldn't cross a puddle for you." I say phooey on that. I say cross the ocean. And I say when you're acting in love (charity) you'll be able to walk on the water anyway. I say love knows no bounds. And I say love never fails. So even when the person is "not easy" to love, just remember... nothing is too hard for the Lord. Nothing is too hard for God. And God is love. So nothing is too hard for love. Certainly loving people isn't too hard for love. That's the whole point OF love. Giving people what they need (sometimes whether they know they need it or not). Love isn't always easy. But it IS always worth it. So don't give up when the going gets tough. Tough times don't last, but tough people do!