Negative People Never See Good
That night all the people of the community raised their voices and wept aloud. All the Israelites grumbled against Moses and Aaron… -- Numbers 14:1-2a
Everybody surely knows at least one person who has got something negative to say about every person and every situation. It’s just how it is. And no matter how hard you try to ignore their comments or please them, it just doesn’t work. It’s like they thrive on negativity.
It surely makes us sympathize with Moses and Aaron. Moses had led the people, who had rebelled and complained the entire time. Now they were getting ready to go into the promised land but they didn’t trust God to protect them. They only saw the problems and not the power and goodness that are God. We know how well that turned out. Forty years wandering in the desert.
It just gets so frustrating. It’s a constant harping that never seems to end. The sun is brilliant, well, it’s too hot. Plan something outdoors and the naysayer will predict rain -- again and again and again. No one ever drivers to suit them. Or cooks to their taste. Or does anything to please them. That’s just how they are.
Yesterday I stopped by a festival where vendors were setting up for this weekend. The organizer said he’d already had to move someone because she didn’t like her space. He laughed and said she seemed the type that probably wouldn’t have liked her space no matter what. Some people are that way.
Several years ago I participated in an outdoor event. I had arranged in advance to have a space that allowed a vehicle nearby so I could restock. One couple decided they’d had a “bad” show because of my vehicle. I wanted so badly to explain to them that their attitude likely caused their “bad” show. They wouldn’t have heard me. They were too busy complaining.
I ask God almost daily to not let be someone like that. Oh, I know. We all grumble and complain sometimes. But Let’s take the time to focus on the good all around us. I want to be like Paul who wrote that he’d learned to be content in all circumstances. Because our joy does come from God.
My challenge -- and yours -- is to not let negative people bring us down to their level. We should struggle to meet each negative comment with a positive thought. Again and again, as necessary. I don’t know that it’ll change them. But maybe it’ll make living around them easier and keep us looking upward.
No comments:
Post a Comment