How to Cope with Other People’s Bad Decisions

Consequences!

“ Careless or cruel, thoughtless or depraved, the choices others make affect us,” writes author Cynthia Ruchti. “Short-term. Long-term. Sometimes causing indigestion. Sometimes leaving scars. We labor to breathe through the fallout of what those choices mean to us, our sanity, our stability, our sense of well-being. Other people’s choices aren’t always life changing. Sometimes they’re merely annoying, mildly disturbing. We still need grace to cope with their negative effects on us.” Ruchti loves to tell stories of those who are walking through the aftermath or current hot zone of other’s people’s choices. Though shrouded in darkness, they point us to the ray of light and hope God always offers, even in the darkest times.

Consequences!

Hopeful Assurance Ruchti continues: When we stand in a muddle of misery someone else created for us, too weary to be creative, too worn down to follow a seven-step plan to a new, improved life, we need an arm around our shoulder assuring us God hears, God understands and is not stingy with hope. How ragged is the hope you’re clutching? It’s no less valuable or essential than it was when it was new. Is it hard for you to admit you’re struggling with the aftermath of other people’s choices? Did you think confessing how awful it is would make it worse? Or make your pain seem pathetic, or cheapen the tenacity you’re working so hard to maintain? You’ll find hope that – even when it’s tattered – glows in the dark. When you walk through the fire, you won’t be scorched and flame won’t burn you.