A bit too much drama...

I saw this on Facebook earlier in the week and re-posted it to my page, but have not been able to shake it from my mind.  The past couple of weeks have had some very dicey moments of being misunderstood, having words attributed to me, believed to have been said by me and were never verified by me, being lied to and about.  Basically, the fun stuff of drama...which I hate...or so I thought.  As the week wore on, my mind was constantly barraged with thoughts of the issues du jour.  I was thinking, rethinking, having imaginary conversations with various people, and winning any arguments, by the way! :D  I know, ridiculous.  Then I got laid out with some sort of allergy/cold thing that made me sick enough to have to miss work...which meant being at home...thinking.

During one of my thought fests, it occurred to me that I had become one of the very kind of people who frankly annoy me to no end.  I'd become sucked into the lair of drama.  I had allowed the enemy to not only sneak into my thoughts, but to build a condo with a pool there! And I knew right when it started...it was that first thought of "I can't believe they did that...".  I knew right there to capture that thing and lay it at the foot of the cross.  But no, I decided to let it move to the next realm of, "Do they know how unprofessional/hurtful/wrong that is?" And then the proverbial horse was out of the barn and off it went. Ugh.

Fortunately, I have made it a priority to have some take no prisoner, "I love you too much to let you go there" friends in my circle and was talking to one of them this week. She said something so simple, but it rocked my world... she said, "Maybe they are doing the best they can do with where they are in life".  Whoa.  Someone who doesn't know Christ isn't going to be Christ-like.  I can count on them to live life for themselves. Period.  Someone who does know Christ, like me, maybe needs me to understand that they are learning, trying, endeavoring to be all that He created them to be...like me.  Like when I mess up, or unintentionally hurt someone, or act selfish.  That set me back on my heels and kept weaving through the attempts that the enemy was making to start me up again.  Today, the Lord took me to a precious chapter in Hebrews for some incredible healing.  He knows, He understands, He still forgives, He never gives up on me.

This life with Jesus is not easy.  Sometimes I have to learn to just take it on the chin, offer forgiveness for the hurt and move forward.  Sometimes, He brings things full circle and forgiveness is asked and received by both of us.  Always, it's for His glory and our healing.