Saturday, January 21, 2017

Staying Strong and Walking Away

Staying Strong and Walking Away 

You know what's hard about being a strong person? When people don't know the price you paid for that strength. They didn't see the fire you had to walk through and they compare themselves with where they see you know. 

For many strong people, the difficult circumstances that are unspoken of, the ones that made you strong, are still going on but somehow you have managed to keep going and learned to let adversity motivate and drive you rather than defeat you.

But, what happens when people that see this  decide they want what you have and need to compete with you to get it. They don't understand that they can develop their own gifts and so they come after yours. 

A strong person is trained by life to react uniquely. When attacked or belittled, they won't retaliate with anger and malice but rather will exude grace and mercy as they attempt to absorb the price of helping another person unpack their pain, knowing that is their calling, secure in their identity in Christ and purposed to perform for the greater good. 

There does come a point in every strong persons life when they encounter someone or even a group of people that are toxic. That person or people come to misunderstand the strong persons unique reaction and are blind to the goodness and kindness of their heart. The toxic person(s) are not able to compete or compare so they attack and the blame game is in full force.  

So what is the solution for the strong person? Removing yourself from the situation and trusting the conviction of God to intercede. Sick people need you to be less than who you are. They want you to act outside of yourself so they have an excuse for their behavior. When you walk away, without your presence, they will have only eyes to see themselves. 

A fool takes no pleasure in understanding, but only in expressing his opinion.
‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭18:2‬‬

I share this because on this journey the last 6 years, I have had to remove myself. At first, people blamed me for abandoning them. This is a tactic to keep you in the toxic place. Don't fall for it. You have a right to walk away from anything that is not healthy for you.  

If you keep doing what you have always done, you will keep getting what you have always had. Have faith and give God a chance to give you something new, let Him do what He has planned for your life, and stay strong. 

A Grateful Believer in Jesus Christ

Johnna