Shape

"If God loves you and wants to shape you, he will send some difficult people your way. But take heart. you are the dificult person he is sending to shape somebody else!" Ortberg

This made me smile. I know that we all have difficult people in our lives. We all have a few people who tap, stomp, pull on that last nerve, and we smile through it, watch the clock, and just hope we can leave soon. I am an avoider, if I feel like someone is challenging me, confronting me, or doesn't like me....I run. I don't put any effort into that relationship because I would rather avoid the conversation and miss out on the growth God has intending for me through that relationship. I am learning that difficult people are placed in my life to increase my ability to love.

Ortberg says that between the time of calm to anger there is a quarter second. That quarter second is a God-send. It is available for us to pray and tap into the Holy Spirit and ask Him to intercede and help us with this difficult person or situation. If we choose not to pray or ask for help....WATCH out!! I can think of many moments in my life where I didn't take advantage of that quarter second...sorry mom.

My prayer is that I become the "shape" God is calling me to be. If that means I am the difficult person in your life, I am sorry. Know that I am a God-send...haha.

"God loves people who love him. He loves people who don't love him. God does it because love is the only way to life." -Ortberg

Thick skin and a thin heart...
Em