Joshua 5:13 “Now when Joshua was near Jericho, he looked up and saw a man standing in front of him with a drawn sword in his hand. Joshua went up to him and asked, “Are you for us or for our enemies?”  As you can see even Joshua was confused about exactly who was on WHAT side – it can happen to anyone.

That angel/person standing in front of Joshua did actually have a sword and Joshua was a fightin’/praying man ever ready to spring into action. Meanwhile, at that particular moment he desperately needed to know who was on his side and who he was supposed to fight! We can learn a great lesson from good old Joshua. Sometimes, as Jesus Himself told us: “A man’s enemies will be those of his own household.”  The people we love the most, have the inside track to our hearts, and therefore they can hurt us like no-one else can … by jumping up and down on our hearts! We need God’s wisdom to pick our moments.

The bible mentions enemies many times and it is fair to say that we could easily have people in our lives who hate us … accidentally, or, on purpose! Even family etc. and this can cause what I call a spiritual compound fracture. These compound fractures can be hard to heal. The best healing method ever, is the oil of the Holy Spirit poured in, and then ‘ask, and keep on asking ‘(!) for God’s gift of supernatural love for the perpetrator. When people are mean, I’ve found that you can run out of human love pretty quickly! I’d start by blessing the people responsible for deeply wounding you and I wouldn’t stop … until they do!

We need to reconcile in our hearts that we also learn about God’s love, desires, and purposes, as well as stuff about ourselves, because of difficult people. Difficult people and their criticism hold up a mirror and show us what’s really on the inside. Well, goodie goodie gumdrops! 🍬The Lord Himself does not take sides, like Joshua shows us, because … HE IS ON HIS OWN SIDE. Ergo, we need to find His side and stay there! Personally whether I am right or wrong, I just say ‘sorry’ – it saves time. Sometimes, I don’t even wait to calm down. Then I deal with my feelings with Him afterward. He can fix anything even my stinky attitudes.

After I bawl my eyes out for a while and I forgive whoever it is … PS hubby does that way faster than I do and that is sooooo annoying! 😶 Then I pray and ask the Lord if there was any truth in the other person’s accusation. That’s when He very gently takes my tightly clenched fist – which was totally ready to punch them on the nose 😱  …and He explains that I am not perfected, just yet … And maybe we could fix what the other person brought up? I often have to think about that for a while. 🙄 Our God corrects us because He loves us dearly, and that right there … is an even bigger thought!  Whatever! Enemies are really useful people. They keep us on our spiritual toes. When someone is attacking you, suddenly a whole lot of things become clearer. And they often expose the very things inside us that we are hiding from ourselves.

The sad fact is that the people who act like enemies probably don’t  understand us, or they have some preconceived idea of what we should be like. They think they have their own very good reasons. If we do not take God’s side, His POV, in these situations … we can end up polarising our own thoughts, to prove to ourselves, that our ideas, actions, attitudes are right, and the other person is wrong! Here is a word of caution, remember, we can’t hear the Lord very well, when we are justifying ourselves. Peace is not a feeling – He is a Person. A Person Who will leave when we start justifying ourselves and judging others. When He leaves, wisdom and insight leave with Him.

Moving on.. the Apostle Paul had something he called “a thorn in his flesh,” Was he sick or disabled etc? I dunno! I actually think a person, or even a people group, can fit into the thorn in the flesh category too. After all people can hate others because of their nationalities – like anybody can help where we were born!? 😳 We simply must put aside the kind of thinking that categorises people into good people and bad people, and see ourselves, as well as others, as human beings who all need salvation and redemption! Love doesn’t categorise – it simply follows the Lord through the circumstances – to achieve HIS desired outcome.

His desired outcome does not always mean we will always have happy families or untroubled friendships etc. However, having people who don’t like us, provides us with an opportunity to see ourselves as others see us, and to check with the Lord about what to do with all that info! Difficult people reveal US to ourselves far more clearly than anything else and they do it by annoying the living daylights out of us!  🥳 yay. 

I want to conclude today by talking about Jonah. He is my go-to-guy about practically everything. I love THAT guy. He was so-oo-oo honest with God! The Lord tells him to go to Ninevah … and Jonah, with no hesitation, says: ‘no!’ He’s God’s prophet and he doesn’t even pray about it! Then he runs away in the opposite direction just to make his point. Meanwhile hiding from GOD in the bottom of a ship seems pretty D.U.M.B. stupid. 😳 But I adore the way the Lord used this man’s intentional disobedience to save a boatload of unredeemed sailors. THAT’S THE KIND OF GOD WE SERVE.

Which kind of proves my point today, we never know what the Lord will teach us about ourselves, through the people we don’t like. Or even what He will do for others while we are learning! His POV is the third side! 👋🏻