Antidote for People-Pain

There is a cure, a genuine–yes it will work–cure for people-pain. It is not easy to take, but after you start taking it, it becomes easier and easier and you begin to feel better and better!!!….literally you will FEEL BETTER!

I don’t know how it works, but it does…actually it’s because we’re wired that way, by God Himself Who knows just what we need.

Who would have thought…it goes contrary to all popular opinion and human reason. Yet it will work.

What is it?

Do something good for somebody…anybody, it doesn’t matter if it’s the one who hurt you…sometimes that person is long gone, perhaps even died, but we can still do good to someone and watch how it transforms us and others.

If we can just remember that– it will save us a lot of sorrow, grief and wasted time!

Instead of returning evil for evil, bad for bad, trying to get even, we start a new trend to conquer the bad, by doing something good!

If you’ve had a lot of bad done to you, or even seen a lot of bad done, you can change the temperature in your world just by doing something good….a smile, holding the door open for someone…(ladies there is nothing wrong with us holding the door open for a man), letting another driver go in front of you in traffic, baking muffins for your neighbor, writing a letter of encouragement, calling grandmother, even pulling a weed out of your neighbors sidewalk!

Doing good overcomes bad. Doing good multiplies good. Doing good makes you feel good, and there is nothing wrong with feeling good about doing good.

We were not made to feel miserable, but to have joy, peace and happiness in our lives. It begins and continues by doing good.

Somebody vs Nobody

Last post, I related a story about the man coming into the office angry and trying to deposit his ‘people-pain’ on me. I mentioned how my response was kind and friendly even though his actions were undeserving; but isn’t that the way life is? None of us deserve good treatment, but we are obligated to treat all humans with respect and kindness, being an example of what we’d like to see from them. “Do unto others as you would like done unto you.” Sometimes that is very hard to remember, much less do. But it is a possible goal…it won’t be done perfectly or often enough, but it is a goal I’m striving for. Back to the gentleman previously mentioned. As an experiment in people, I have treated him very kindly since that experience and guess what? He came into the office another time and I wished him a good day and he said with his back to me, “Same to you.” What a surprise!!! That was the most positive thing I’d heard from him ever! The next time he came in, I wished him a good day again and this time he replied, “Have a good day.” Again still not facing me when he spoke, but this was progress none-the-less! He has been in several more times since and his demeanor is changing for the better each time. I think some people have in their minds from previous episodes in their lives, thought patterns that they have to act, react or think and respond in certain ways. They don’t see other options. By treating them with kindness and respect and just being good to them, I believe it raises the bar in their lives by raising the bar in their own eyes of who they are. They begin to see themselves as someone worth something to someone else and because they are now a somebody and not a nobody, they begin to treat others as somebodies and not nobodies. Try this experiment in you own life and see what good results they bring.

‘People Pain’

Of all the types of pain in the world, it seems the worst one to endure and the hardest one to deal with is people-pain.

This morning at work a man came into the office so angry about something, that I wasn’t sure what was on his mind. I greeted him with kind words and then he, without saying a word or changing his expression, threw his paperwork over the counter at me and turned and left. I told him thank you and wished him a good day, just as I would anyone else coming in the office.

A gentle answer turns away wrath.

For him, this is normal behavior. He seems not to know joy, peace, kindness and that saddens me. He must be holding onto pain and bitterness from something long ago.

The thought came to me while eating lunch, ‘People have to free themselves of their pain.’ Whether they take it out on someone else or themselves, they have a need to rid themselves of their pain. Of course the ways many people try to do this doesn’t give genuine relief; it may just be enough to keep the pressure cooker from exploding inside them.

I thought, ‘God did not create His creation to endure pain and suffering…especially emotional pain and what I now call ‘people-pain’…pain caused through relationships with others.

Yes, we will have to endure people-pain and all sorts of emotional pain and suffering while we live on this planet; however, God did not intend us to bear it alone.

God provided a way to get rid of the burden of pain and suffering caused in our relationships with others. We have to take it all to Jesus. He says, “Casting the whole of your care [all your anxieties, all your worries, all your concerns, once and for all] on Him, for He cares for you affectionately andcares about you watchfully.” I Peter 5:7 AMP.

We have to give it up; give the people causing pain up; say to God, “I can’t take it any longer! You deal with it for me.’

He is there to help you in your time of trouble.

Jesus is our pain killer. He bore it so we didn’t have to. We will have many, many pains and cares, troubles and worries every day, and His shoulders are big enough to handle them all!

Every single pain!!!

God didn’t make you to bear the pain. He said, “I will.” But you have to give it to Him first. You have to know He cares and that you can take it all to Jesus and He won’t make fun of you for coming, or chastise you for not being strong on your own. He says, “Come to Me.”

I’m praying for that man to take it to Jesus so he can be free. Yes it is his choice, but I am still praying for him to make that good choice.

How do you handle your ‘people-pain’?