This person is insecure and has a great need for power and control. That is at the heart of these circumstances. This is a tough one, isn’t it? We want to fight back, but that only escalates the situation. So, we work around, over and through these hindrances of life by giving these people extra grace where needed. Furthermore, what we learn from these people is, WE do NOT want to BE these people. Check out what Jesus says…

Mark 9, The Message

Where we left off yesterday…
39-41 Jesus wasn’t pleased. “Don’t stop him. No one can use my name to do something good and powerful, and in the next breath cut me down. If he’s not an enemy, he’s an ally. Why, anyone by just giving you a cup of water in my name is on our side. Count on it that God will notice.

And now today…God also notices….
42 “On the other hand, if you give one of these simple, childlike believers a hard time, bullying or taking advantage of their simple trust, you’ll soon wish you hadn’t. You’d be better off dropped in the middle of the lake with a millstone around your neck.

43-48 “If your hand or your foot gets in God’s way, chop it off and throw it away. You’re better off maimed or lame and alive than the proud owner of two hands and two feet, godless in a furnace of eternal fire. And if your eye distracts you from God, pull it out and throw it away. You’re better off one-eyed and alive than exercising your twenty-twenty vision from inside the fire of hell.

49-50 “Everyone’s going through a refining fire sooner or later, but you’ll be well-preserved, protected from the eternal flames. Be preservatives yourselves. Preserve the peace.”

Dear Heavenly Father, This lesson is personal. This lesson is clear. Preserve the peace. Help us to see power seeking people as you see them and not become one of them. Show us Your will and way to move among them and still accomplish the tasks before us. And, above all, keep us alert and don’t allow us to BE one of those who would hinder or get in the way of Your work in all of us. Refine us. In Jesus Name, Amen