Let’s face it; dealing with difficult people is not easy! Anyone who’s ever made a frantic call to tech support knows what I am talking about. It goes something like this: you call the tech support hotline and start counting the rings. After the eighth or ninth ring you lose count as your anxiety rises. You tell our tale of woe to the first monotone voice that finally answers, who then transfers you to another person, who transfers you to another, and another. Each time you have to restate your reason for calling, until you “accidently” get disconnected after, in exasperation, you ask to speak with a supervisor. Wearing your God Glasses will help you deal with people the way God wants you to—even in less than desirable circumstances—and even when you can’t see them on the other end of the phone.
Do you think we see people the way God does? Let’s examine some of what His Word has to say about the subject:
First Samuel 16:7 (NKJ) says, “…for the LORD does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.” God makes it clear He doesn’t see people as we see them. We tend to form opinions about others by looking at the outward appearance, especially if we aren’t wearing our God Glasses. For instance, if a person has a good job, wears nice cloths and appears to have a prosperous life, we might assume they are successful and all is right with the world for them. But what we see on the outside may not always be the truth. That person could be in extreme debt, have lots of destructive relationships or even addictions that aren’t easily recognized by the naked eye. We judge according to what we see in appearance and actions, but God looks at the heart; it’s what’s on the inside of a person that counts with Him.
With our God Glasses on, we have the ability to see what God sees that we could not otherwise see, giving us the ability to see people from His perspective through His eyes of love. Without our God Glasses, we may look at people critically or judgmentally, mislabeling them as failures or losers based on what we see on the outside. But God sees them as successful and as winners because He knows He has good plans for their lives. We, on the other hand, might view others’ negative circumstances and size them up, thinking, “They’re on a downward spiral. Things will never get any better with them.” In John 3:16, however, God tells us He loves everyone so much, He sent His Son Jesus to save us. We need His perspective because it helps us see others as He sees them and helps us avoid criticizing and judging others.
A look into the book of Romans makes God’s perspective even clearer. “But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8) God demonstrated His love for us, not when we were perfect and deserved it, but while we were yet sinners, in our worst possible condition!
You may be thinking, “I wasn’t even born when Jesus came to earth. I had not committed any sins yet!” Jesus paid the price for the sins of the whole world. The great price He paid was all-inclusive, covering the sins of the past, present, and future. Our debts are paid in full, no matter how you look at it. That’s how fully and completely God demonstrates His love for us.
So, what is it that can make people so irritating to us? Why do we let what they do and say get on our last nerve? Because they are people, just like us, and as much as we hate to admit it, we are just as capable of getting on other peoples nerves sometimes too! Let’s choose right now to do unto others as we would have them do unto us. Let’s choose to see them through the unfailing, love-filled eyes of God.
Some people have God Glasses that are cracked and damaged. Perhaps you have a pair like that. Have past hurts or offenses caused you so much pain you have a hard time clearly seeing another person’s heart? Unforgiveness and unhealed wounds and offenses make it very difficult to give someone else a break, distorting and warping the view seen through damaged lenses in desperate need of God’s healing adjustment. He wants you to see clearly; He wants to heal your sight. He wants your glasses properly repaired and adjusted so your relationships can be restored.
Some people appear to have God Glasses that are in good condition. They might seem to see clearly, but they are just pretending. Actually, they are wearing glasses without lenses that attempt to mimic the ones God wants them to use. These are the people who act differently when they are at church than they do in everyday life. You may even know a few people like this. We call people who say one thing but act another, hypocrites. Their outward attitude seems right but their heart attitude doesn’t line up. There are many Christians who are just going through the motions, putting on a front, going to church, saying all the right things—even using church lingo, but their hearts aren’t right. Looking at them, you might think they are very loving toward others. But what’s their motive? Just too look good? Man looks at outward appearances but God looks at the heart.
When we look at the outward appearance of a person like this, we may think, “I want to be like them.” But the well-polished frames you see on the outside don’t necessarily reflect what’s on the inside. Matthew 15:8 says, “These people honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me.” It’s a good reminder of “what you see is not always what you get.” God Glasses have special lenses. You can’t get the benefits of seeing as God sees if you only display them as an ornament to impress others. You have to put them on and use them! We must continually submit our hearts to God, allowing His love and truth to flow through us to others. Then we can see clearly!
There are also some people who wear another kind of glasses—glasses that give them a critical, judgmental view of others. Have you ever been around someone like this? They think the worst of people and situations, rarely thinking about God’s best. They will gossip about the way other people look, criticizing them for being too heavy or too thin, having an opinion about everything to do with what needs to be corrected in others, all the while justifying their cruelty by proclaiming, “I have the gift of spiritual discernment, so I just know these things!” They will even claim to have heard it from the Lord!
The good news is neither of these types of glasses are real God Glasses. God doesn’t pretend to be something He’s not and He’s never critical of us. His ways are perfect. He always looks for the best in a person’s heart. He is always for us, never against us.
A while ago, my friend and I were at a conference out of town. One afternoon we were hungry and decided to get a bite to eat. Rather than going out, we decided to eat at the hotel where the conference was being held so we could just relax and not feel rushed. When we got inside the restaurant, it was empty except for us. The waiter seated us, but he seated us at a dirty table. I couldn’t understand why he sat us at the only dirty table when we were the only ones in the entire restaurant and there were clean tables all around us! I quickly pointed out that our table was dirty, whereupon he walked casually away to get a cloth to wipe it clean. To my surprise, instead of getting rid of the crumbs, he swept them onto our seats! I started to sit down and there were crumbs everywhere. The table was wet, the seats were wet and now covered in crumbs that were getting wet—and I was annoyed. It certainly didn’t seem like we were going to have the relaxing lunch we had hoped for!
Just as I was about to call the waiter back to present him with his failing report card in Restaurant Service 101, my precious friend stepped in. Wearing her God Glasses, she reached out in love recognizing that he was obviously having a very difficult day. She smiled and generously thanked him for serving us. For a moment I thought I was having an out-of-body experience! Surely my friend and I must be having lunch in two different worlds! But we weren’t. She was showing him the grace and mercy that filled her because she was seeing our waiter with the eyes of Jesus. Where I was only seeing wet crumbs and inconvenience, she was seeing the opportunity to walk in the love of Jesus toward a hurting man.
When I saw her loving response, I was sorry I had gotten frustrated with him. She had made the wise choice and I made a poor one. It was humbling. I was reminded we have to consciously wear our God Glasses at all times. If left to our natural tendencies, we’ll go with our selfish nature. That situation made me realize where I am weak and where I need to further depend on Jesus’ strength, making a choice daily, even hourly, to see people as God sees them—not judging them for what they do or don’t do. God doesn’t want us to bless people only after they have blessed us. He wants us to bless them whether we think they deserve it or not—at all times!
“Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” (Luke 6:38)
God doesn’t treat us badly (although we sometimes deserve it!). I’m very thankful for that. He looks past our mistakes and doesn’t hold us accountable for things we’ve said we were sorry for in the past. He speaks to our hearts, “I love you so much. I demonstrated My love for you by sending Jesus.” Remember that. Remember His great love for you!
God doesn’t look at where you are. He doesn’t say, “Sorry. You don’t deserve My love. I’m going to treat you the way you deserve to be treated.” Rather, He zeros right in on you and looks at your heart. He loves you no matter what! Because He loves you, you not only have the ability to put on your God Glasses to see people as He sees them, but you also have the ability to see yourself, just as He sees you. Thank goodness we don’t have to rely on our own strength to see people the way God does! In fact, the Bible says those things that are impossible with man are possible with God.
You may think, “I can’t live like that. It’s so hard. I’ve never been treated that way, so how am I supposed to know how to treat others that way?” With God you can! In human weakness, He is made strong and will prove Himself to you when you put your trust in Him to work in your life. He has put His power inside you to do what you can’t in the natural. His power resides in you through the Holy Spirit. All you have to do is call Him and He is faithful to hear and answer you. God has equipped and empowered you to live a fully pleasing and acceptable life for Him, but first you must choose to follow His leading.
Hebrews 11:30 (NASB) says we overcome by faith. When we believe God and His Word, we can overcome any situation. So starting with verse 30 through 31, let’s look at Hebrews chapter 11: “By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they had been encircled for seven days. By faith Rahab the harlot did not perish along with those who were disobedient, after she had welcomed the spies in peace.”
Then verses 32 through 34 say, “And what more shall I say? For time will fail me if I tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets, who by faith conquered kingdoms, performed acts of righteousness, obtained promises, shut the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, form weakness were made strong…”
Did you get all of this? They did tremendous exploits and great things because of the strength God put inside of them. They believed God and operated by faith. They trusted Him and He took them through incredibly hard times. That same strength and faith are available for you today, too. By His Spirit, God will help you to walk in faith as Zechariah 4:6 promises. “‘Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the LORD Almighty.”
Put your faith and trust in God and what His Word says. Believe that God will get you through hard times. He is an ever-present help in time of need. His unfailing love, mercy, and grace will be there to help you always. It’s not always easy dealing with difficult people. God certainly understands that. (Don’t forget He has all of us to deal with!) Call on God. He will be faithful to answer you and see you through to the other side of whatever it is you’re going through or whomever it is you are dealing with. You will find His strength in your weakness.
Realizing how much God loves you gives you the strength and power to receive everything you need to love others, see them as God sees them, and treat them how He desires them to be treated. I’ve heard it said that hurting people hurt people. When you go to a grocery store or stop at a gas station, people are not always kind. Truthfully, sometimes they are downright rude and obnoxious even when you’re trying to be nice! You may have run into people like that in your life. But God asks you to look past their behavior and see them as He sees them. Give that extra measure of love to the (seemingly) undeserving. Ask them if they would like you to pray for them. Their response might surprise you; it could be the answer to their prayers!
If you can learn to ignore the outside appearance and look into the heart through the eyes of God, you’ll see people as they really are: hurting. Everyone is struggling with something and has some level of pain. It’s part of this life! But as Christians, we carry inside of us the one thing that can help heal their pain and ease their burden—the unfathomable love of God, ready and willing to be given away!
Even when you interact with people who aren’t treating you fairly, you can choose in that moment to forgive them. We can fall into the trap of believing we have to defend ourselves, but really, it’s not. It is God’s way to forgive people when they mistreat you. You don’t always have to bring it to their attention. Forgiving them may seem foreign to you given today’s culture, but that is exactly what Jesus did. He didn’t take into account any wrongs. So, when you find yourself dealing with a difficult person, ask God to give you something kind to say. He will give you the ability to love them with the same kind of love He lavishes on you.
That’s what God means when He says if you can recognize your weakness and admit it, He can be strong in your life. He says He resists the proud and gives grace to the humble. When you humble yourself before Him and say, “Lord, I need you” instead of “I don’t need God, I’ll take care of this myself,” then you are in a position of receiving everything you need from God to walk through the situation you face.
God requires us to call on Him so He can move on our behalf. We can’t do things in our own strength and expect the best results. But when we put our God Glasses on, we will see clearly and walk in the ways He wants us to walk. In order to do this, we need to spend time in God’s Word. He talks to us through His Word and through prayer.
Proverbs 4:20-23 says, “My son, pay attention to what I say; listen closely to my words. Do not let them out of your sight; keep them within your heart; For they are life to those who find them and health to a man’s whole body. Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.” The only way to overcome what happens in this world is to spend time with Jesus in His Word, because when you know the Truth, you are set free. When you see how God handles situations, you learn how He wants you to handle them also. Don’t be like the person with the cracked glasses. Don’t stay in that place. God can heal your broken heart—but first you have to let Him.
A person with a wounded heart has a lot of trouble loving other people and seeing them as God sees them. You may have trouble with many people but the only common denominator is you. Check your glasses; see if they’re cracked. If they are, go to God. Ask Him to heal your wounded heart. Ask Him for healing and restoration in your relationships. You don’t have to settle for cracked glasses! And, if you have a pair of glasses you like wearing because you look good in them, trade them in for the real deal—God Glasses!
Decide today to be a doer of the Word, not just a reader of it, then you won’t be judgmental toward everyone you see. The Word of God will transform you and your life. God is an awesome God and He has so much in store for you. It all begins with you calling out to Him and receiving by faith everything He has for you.
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