While one of my daughters and I were talking the other day, I guess she just got fed up, LOL. Yes, I can say that with no hesitation nor embarrassment because of how she expressed herself, which was without being disrespectful and just wanting to share her heart.

Our conversation touched on a lot of topics, but it wasn’t so much the the variety of subjects that rubbed her the wrong way, but the responses I’d give for the situations. During moments like those, I guess they want me to respond the way they’re responding. I submit to you that what’s being said isn’t always what’s being heard, primarily because of what we’re listening for.

I later told her that I know it can be annoying on the receiving end to hear, ‘well, maybe this or try to see that,’ etc. I’ve had (and still have) situations where I’m venting and the person I’m speaking to is responding in not only a calm voice, but also trying to encourage me through ‘bright-side’ eyes. “It’s not possible they’re seeing the whole picture,” I think to myself, “because they wouldn’t be sayin’ that crap!” I’m laughing, just a little, as I type this because most of what teenagers do is so true of us as adults. We want to hear 100% that you’re on our side. We want the other person to see the situation exactly the way we see it and to respond the same way, too. In moments of frustration, we don’t want to see the bright side of anything, just talk about what sucks and how we can find a way to bury them or it under a really heavy rock.

The reality is that the latter doesn’t work for anyone, especially because there’s someone out there who feels that exact same way about us as we feel about them. Every single frustration is temporary, yet we will encounter them as part of a life-long process. So because we have a whole lot of living to do between birth and death, what works best is to sort out how we’ll respond. The older I get and the more I read God’s word, I’m encouraged to wholeheartedly acknowledge the frustrations and the people who walk them out. What I’m not encouraged to do is to linger there.

In the Book of Isaiah, Chapter 40, verse 8, it reads: “The grass withers, the flowers fade, but the word of our God stands forever.” That’s how life works. Some people are going to disappoint us, several jobs are going to give low wages, a lot of food is overpriced, and many people who do bad things are going to get away with them, but none of that means we shouldn’t still see the ‘bright-side’ of things because they are there. Take time today to ask yourself where the bright side of things may be in your situation and be prepared to give a good word to make someone else’s heart glad (Proverbs 12:9b).

READ: Proverbs 12; Philippians 4:8

LISTEN: https://youtu.be/4ngrt3MQ2A0?si=sKl6j5HZ4w4D4CNu Philippians 4:8 Lyric Video by Songs from the Loop