It’s easy to forget that you’re working with God’s children when they themselves have forgotten their Father.
-- Anonymous

That lady cut you off in traffic. When you blew your horn at her, she shot you a bird.

You loaned your best buddy $500 which he agreed to repay within 3 months. Two years later you had to take him to court because he, his mama, and his girlfriend said you owe him $500.

You give the man on the corner holding the “I’m hungry” sign $10 to make it through the evening. He shows up on the evening news in the back of a police car stoned and disorderly from the bottle of Jack Daniels he bought with that $10.

In your outrage and disbelief, it is easy to forget that these people and any others who have taken advantage of you, mistreated you, made a fool of you, let you down, hurt you, and committed any other despicable thing, are God’s babies, too ‘cause they certainly don’t look like folks who know the God in them.

You come in contact each day with people who live and act on the surface of their situations, never considering that just below the peripheral is God moving about releasing goodwill, favor and peacefulness into their spirits. Instead, they don’t tune in to these gifts and ultimately act on the face issues, becoming reactive, surly, destructive, even cruel and sadistic which then causes us to respond in a corresponding manner, one that shows we have forgotten that we are children of God.

In spite of what they say or do, and in order to keep your place in heaven, you’ve got to grit our teeth, suck it up and remember that even the most spiteful person you’ve ever met in your life is still a child of God, worthy of love and kindness, grace and mercy. Even when there is no way you can see the God in them, you have to believe that God is in there somewhere.

Yeah, that’s a tall order. But you do want others to remember you’re a child of God when you act a fool, make a misstep, and chop off some heads, don’t you? So, follow the assignment that seems too impossible to accomplish.

Remind yourself that this beautiful child of God that’s having a tough moment or time in their life is simply having trouble accessing the God in them. Maybe as you show kindness to them, they’ll mellow, take a hint, and tune in to God whirling around in them and make it more apparent that He lives there inside.

So if your lunch server is a bit cantankerous today, tip him anyway. Tip him because despite all, he’s still a child of God.

Sadiqqa © 2007