Okay, I want you to think for a moment.
What’s one thing that someone does to aggravate you?
I mean what really grind your gears.
Are you not fond of a person walking slowly on a busy sidewalk?
How do you feel about foot tapping?
Is it a stressor when someone asks you multiple questions back to back?
Whether it’s smacking or belching I am pretty confident it didn’t take you long to come up with your answer.
We all have something that drives us mentally insane when someone does an annoying thing, right?
And, it is simple as counting to 1-2-3 for us to point it out.
For me, I cannot stand when someone complains!
When I am around a person who is complaining, my entire mood can quickly switch from cheerful to bummed out.
While I’m listening to them complain, it’s like their negative thoughts form a dark cloud around me.
Within minutes, I can even become angry!
What’s even more interesting about this aggravating me is I used to be a person who complained.
At the time, I didn’t realize how much I was complaining.
I simply thought I was venting not realizing my concerns came off as annoyance to others.
The light switch came on when someone pointed it out to me.
They simply said, Breonna, you complain a lot!
Now, I’m not suggesting for you to go around calling out every person who annoys you.
Imagine how silly you’d look.
You see, before I even knew of my former complaining problem the person who told me knew me well and was generous enough to elaborate.
They shared, “You have so much to be grateful for.”
I moved forward by making it a point to work on not complaining; instead, I gained a heart of gratitude.
I became intentional in stating at least one thing I was grateful for.
I really believe this is why complaining now bugs me!
Now, you may be wondering, What on earth does this have to do with me?
Sharing our gifts are not limited for positive moments or people.
Often, many of us think about using our gifts on people who are easy to love.
What happens when the person who God wants us to bless is hard to love?
Here recently, I was around someone who was complaining.
Honey Bunches, I wanted to avoid them, but my spirit wouldn’t allow me.
I admit, I was frustrated, but I chose to remain calm.
I even made it a point to pray for the individual.
Not too soon after the encounter this scripture came across my screen via Bible App:
If your gift is to encourage others, be encouraging. If it is giving, give generously. If God has giving you leadership ability, take the responsibility seriously. And if you have a gift of showing kindness to others, do it gladly. -Romans 12:8
Did notice how the scripture didn’t say “If your gift is to encourage , then only encourage to people who you like?
The same for giving, leadership ability, and kindness.
I really believe some of our greatest works comes with being faithful under pressure.
No matter who or what annoys us our gift of encouragement, giving, kindness, etc. may be what that person needs.
We cannot allow temporary emotions block blessings.
Remember, God’s grace is sufficient and His power works best even in our own weakness!
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Grace Nuggets!
Sharing our gifts are not limited for positive moments or people.
We cannot allow temporary emotions block blessings.
Writer: BG
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