This post is a part of the Five Minute Friday link up. I write for just 5 minutes, no heavy editing, and see what comes out. Today’s prompt is “influence.” Check out all the other posts here.
I’m easily swayed, I admit it. Maybe it’s part of my people-pleaser personality, but it’s easy for me to see many sides of an issue and not be able to make up my mind as to which is better. But maybe that’s not a bad thing when it comes to issues that tend to divide.
Current issues like immigration, the government shutdown, racial injustice, or women’s equality. I tend to take a non-polarizing middle ground. I really can see the issues from either side. I come from a family of immigrants, just a couple of generations back. Yet I also think that we need to secure our borders.
I think women should be treated equally and get the same pay as men if they’re doing the same job and should be treated with respect. But I also know that men and women are different, created by God to BE different. Otherwise we wouldn’t need each other.
The fact is, I need to make sure that I am not being unduly influenced by those I consider authorities on certain subjects, because even authorities can differ in their opinions.
The Apostle Paul understood this. When he was writing to the Thessalonians, he said this:
“Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophecies, but test everything; hold fast what is good. Abstain from every form of evil. Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it” (I Thess. 5:21 ESV).
Test everything. Don’t be unduly influenced by those who may be charismatic speakers. God is faithful. If you ask Him for wisdom, He will surely supply it.
In his book StrengthsFinder 2.0, author Tom Rath takes on an American icon. He takes the story of Rudy Ruettiger, dramatized in the 1993 movie Rudy, and turns it upside down. He says, “While Rudy’s perseverance is admirable, in the end, he played a few seconds of college football and made a single tackle . . . after thousands of hours of practicing.”
I live in Florida, so the saying “when it rains, it pours” makes a lot of sense. Seldom do we ever get just a gentle sprinkling for more than just a couple of minutes. Usually it becomes a gushing downpour that doesn’t usually last long. But in that time, it’s torrential.
I’m typing this on my iPad today because my daughter is using my laptop for schoolwork while her computer is being upgraded. In the mobile version of the WordPress site, there is a space for a blog post title, and then under that the words “start your story here.”
Therapist Adam Young talks about giving our parents too much of an out when we say that they did the best they could. I know I’ve done that. But if that were true, then my dad would have stayed with AA and found a way to curtail his drinking. My mom would have tried to learn how to be open hearted and really tried to know her kids. And their parents before them would have read and practiced and learned how to do better.
Compelled 