When One Side Wins

When one side "wins" an argument, both sides lose. The person or group that was not allowed to make their point, or who did not have the opportunity to make their point, feels dejected and frustrated and unable to affect their own life.

This effects their relationship and attitude about the "winning" side. They may forgive, but they still feel discounted and misunderstood. They withdraw from the relationship both emotionally and possibly also physically, even if just a little bit.

The sad point of this scenario is that this is so unnecessary. There does not have to be a winner and a loser in an argument. There can be a discussion, which leads to a mutually acceptable solution.

This way everybody wins! No one person or group "gets their way", but they find an equally impartial solution that meets everyone's needs.

When we each have a need and our own solution, but we cannot agree on either one, we can pray or brainstorm together and find a third alternative that we both like.

We can do some research, ask advice from other people, read some articles on the topic, go to a counselor if necessary, and find a third alternative that both sides agree upon.

Then everyone is happy, everyone feels heard and valued, and everyone wins. In our society, we have a two party system and we tend to be black-and-white thinkers.

There is no room or tolerance for any gray areas that may require that we think outside of our little box, to experiment, and to consider the good of the group rather than for our self alone.

The only area that is not up for compromise is our belief in and devotion to God. We follow His Spirit's direction in every area of our life and we stand firm on the Word of God alone.

Prayer:

Father God, help us to be more interested in serving others than our self, putting the needs of others in the same degree of importance in our life as our own needs. Remind us not to neglect our self, but to honor others as our self.

You have a perfect will and way for our life and it is our responsibility to hear from Your Spirit in every aspect of our life (Ephesians 2:10; Proverbs 3:5-6). We draw near to You, refuse to allow Satan to wreak havoc in our life and we allow You to direct our paths (James 4:7).

Thought for the Day:

Once we purify the desires of our soul by obeying God's truth, we develop a genuine love for others, we love each other deeply and we maintain a pure heart for God to use in His service. - 1 Peter 1:22

God's Peace Rules

It is so difficult not to react with anxiety to events occurring in our life and in our world. Also, due to childhood experiences that we suppress in our subconscious mind, we are plagued with apprehension all of our life.

We read verses and memorize many of them in order to reprogram our mind with God’s truth. We constantly wonder why we cannot experience the peace of God ruling in our heart (Colossians 3:15-17).

However, those suppressed experiences continue to affect us every day of our life; because hidden within every traumatic memory is a lie from Satan, which our soul believes.

God graciously led me to a counselor who used prayer rather than his advice to help people. He taught me to sit in God’s presence and to allow God to shine His light on these hidden issues (1 Timothy 5:5).
( www.theophostic.com )

As we wait on the Lord in prayer, He reveals Satan’s lies and dispels them with His personal word of truth to our soul. As God’s truth disperses the anxiety in our soul, we are able to surrender all of our cares to Him in gratitude (1 Peter 5:7).  

Then God’s peace, which comes regardless of our human understanding, guards our soul and spirit from any further lies and abuse through the presence of Christ in us (Philippians 4:6-7).

This peace only comes as we totally surrender to God and allow Him to make our way smooth and peaceful (Proverbs 3:6), as we continually give Him thanks for the victory we have through our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 15:57).

Prayer:

Father God, teach us to pray in the Spirit during every moment of our day. We also need to remember to pray for fellow Believers as we face the issues of our individual lives (Ephesians 6:18; 1 Timothy 2:1). We trust in You in every area of our day. 

Thank You for listening to us as we pour out our heart to You (Psalm 62:8). Remind us that You will establish our thoughts as we commit our thoughts, words and deeds to You (Proverbs 16:3).

When we are tempted to worry, remind us to live in the moment and to commit each future moment to Your safe keeping rather than worrying about it. You have our best interest in Your heart and You will work out every detail for our eventual blessing (Romans 8:28).

Thought for the Day:

Jesus told us: "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about anything, because worry cannot add one positive aspect to your life." – Matthew 6:25-34

A Hair Raising Experience

Standing in line at the registrar’s office at our junior college, I contemplated what class to switch with the chemistry class on my schedule. I overloaded my roster with heavy core subjects and my college counselor advised that I switch one out for an easier elective. The girl in front of me had long dark hair, which hung well past her hips. I could not help but compliment her on its beauty. As we chatted, we discovered we were changing classes at the same hour and decided to take a yearbook class.

I went through almost two years at that school and never saw that beautiful young lady again! We both took yearbook class, but we were teamed up with other individuals to work on the layouts we were assigned. My partner was Jane, whom God ordained to lead me to the Lord. At the end of my two years in junior college, I married the man of my dreams; and three weeks later, I was carrying our first son.

We served in a local ministry called the One Way House; but eventually, over the next few years, we moved to several cities around the country. I was riding my bike at full speed down a busy highway in Phoenix, AZ with my long, jet black hair flying out behind me and dancing with the wind. The driver of the car next to me started blaring its horn at me.

I was perplexed and a bit frightened, so I pulled into a busy parking lot in front of a chain of retail stores. To my discomfort, this same car pulled into the parking place next to where I stood beside my bike. The driver opened her door and ran around her car, flinging herself into my arms. You guessed it! This was the same girl who stood in line with me to change our scheduled classes back in junior college.

How she recognized me, I will never know; but I suspect it was the Holy Spirit’s activity. Of course, I invited her to supper that night and we spent hours catching up and playing with my two children. When she left, I gave her a record full of Christian songs. I silently prayed that this divine appointment would not be lost, but would bear fruit in both our lives.

Many years flew past since that last meeting; and no word has exchanged between us since then. However, I often think of the beautiful young lady from Chicago, IL, and wonder why she came to Pensacola, FL and then to Phoenix, AZ at the same microcosm of time and space as I did. I pray for her to this day, hoping that she found the same peace and rest in Jesus Christ that I have enjoyed for over 45 years.

I am posting this on my blog in hopes that by some God-ordained providence, she will read this and reconnect with me. If not, then I pray that we shall meet in Heaven as sisters-in-Christ, once our work for God on this earth is done. – Kathleen Del Gallo (Hill) Bradley