Did you ever think, "My life would be great if there were just no people to get in the way?"  As I reflected on the people that God has put in my life over the years, I noticed that people have a way of being both a source of comfort, pleasure and encouragement, and also a source of endless irritation.  And so sometimes I think that everything would be a lot easier if all those irritating people would just 'go away".

But then I would not be who I am today.  So much of what shapes me comes from the people that I am in contact with.  We are affected when we are young by our parents, siblings and family.  Much of who we are, both positive and negative, come from those relationships that we were born into.  As we get older, we get an increased ability to choose our relationships, whether it's our neighbors, people we hang out with, or even the church we choose to attend.  Yet there are many people where we still have no choice but to interact with.  Whether it is our job and all the people there or our extended family relationships, we deal with the people in our path.  And all these people impact who we are becoming through how we respond to them.

It doesn't matter who they are, our spouse, co-worker, best friend or aquaintance, eventually something about them or what they say rubs us the wrong way.  What I found in those situations was that what matters most is my response to them.  I cannot control other people.  No matter how much I might want to, that kind of control is an illusion.   The only thing I am really in control of is myself, my own actions and reactions.   So whenever I am tempted to write off the entire human race, I question myself.  "Why do I feel this way?  What can I learn about myself?  What is God trying to teach me?"  Or perhaps, "Why are they acting this way?  How can I help them?" I found that when I do this, all the pressure comes off.  I am less irritated by others.  I begin to see others and myself in a different light.  And my life is much more satisfying.

After all, in the end, there is nothing so wonderful as a great friend.  As it says in Ecclesiastes 4:10, "If one falls down, his friend can help him up.  But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up."