Pamela Taylor's Truth

Just Thank the Agitator

How do you handle op-positional people? Are you quick to snap back or do you retreat?  I remember a conference that I attended about 20 years ago, the speaker asked a set of questions about difficult people in our lives. The first question was, “Is it someone you do not like?” Second question, “Do you you hate to see this person coming?” Third question, “Does this person get on your nerves?” My cousin loudly yelled out, “yes” to every question. The speaker’s response was, “You are the one with the problem.” How? Because we allow this one person to get us out of pocket and lose our witness. Our love walk needs to become stronger. Love covers a multitude of sins. We do not have to agree with, like what this individual displays, or how they treat others. But, we must show love.

It is nice to be graciously blessed to endure someone that is not the easiest person to deal with (not really, but yeah). I liken this individual to the agitator in a washing machine. Remember the ones with the pole protruding from the middle of it. The main purpose of this apparatus is to agitate the dirt out of soiled clothing, comparable to the job of that crass person. They help ugly things hidden within us, to surface and be released. We’re the ones who have to learn how to bridle our tongues and not allow the bitterness of anyone to take us out of character. We never know, we may be the instrument used to bring change to the antagonist’s life or God may just be building us into perfection.
The Bible tells us “…when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy.” (NLT, James 1:2) To become the best you, embrace the opposition. It is not your job to repay with  negative words or actions. Stand up for yourself with grace and the boldness of Christ… full of love. 🙂

Waiting…

I will never forget the day my cousin Tekoa and I were picking up lunch from Pollo Tropical. She was sitting in the passenger seat flipping through the pages of a magazine. She quickly stopped while looking at an article featuring Senator (at that time) Barack Obama. She said, “He is going to run for president.” My first thought was, “I have no clue who Barack Obama is.” My response was, “Wow!” We talked a few more minutes about Obama and perused through the photos.

Four years after that conversation, Barack Obama became the first African-American president of the United States of America. He went through a process to set him in preparation to lead our nation. I can not begin to fathom the barriers he had to fight along the way. He not only had to endure the stress of fully learning the United States’ political system, but also overcoming racial inequalities. In addition, listening to those who told him he couldn’t accomplish such a difficult task. I’m pretty sure President Obama had enough opposition to not try, but thankfully he did!
President Obama’s perseverance gave hope to many people who stopped believing. He rewrote history for many lives. His waiting process groomed him into something great. This is a perfect example of what’s available to us. We must never take our refining time for granted. If God has confirmed a specific result to you, hold on to it! Our wait does not necessarily mean no, it means “wait.” You must continue to work on the task before you with all diligence. God knows when it’s time for us to be presented before others.
Think about this… What great impacts will you make after the waiting process? Allow God to groom you for his glory.

1 Peter 5:7 I know how great this makes you feel, even though you have to put up with every kind of aggravation in the meantime. Pure gold put in the fire comes out of it proved pure; genuine faith put through this suffering comes out proved genuine. When Jesus wraps this all up, it’s your faith, not your gold, that God will have on display as evidence of his victory.