The Other Side Of The Coin

 I am musing a about...

The other side of the coin.

Two sides. Two distinctly different presentations. Different engravings and wording. That is the situation of both sides of the same coin. When you are looking at one side, you are unable to see the other. I was contemplating this truth the other day in relationship to relationships.

How many of you have felt misunderstood in the past? How many of you have misunderstood others?

Misunderstandings can hurt. What is it about us that we each desire so intensely to be understood, that others see things from our point of view? We all have a need for validation. But we also all desire, or should desire, to understand. To be able to empathize with the "heart place", the journey, of those we love and care about. 

How many times in books and movies, are there ongoing issues in the storyline, that could easily be cleared up if the characters simply stopped, listened and took the time to truly understand one another. Oh the tension that these misunderstandings create. The tension that keeps us flipping the page or watching the screen.

I have been privy to situations, when upon discussing a certain occurence or comment, I have been amazed to realize how differently it was perceived then how it was meant. Occasionally, the misunderstanding is comical and results in healing and shared laughter.

Oh the sweet blessing of clarification and mutual understanding.

Other times, the misunderstanding is difficult and painful as the reality of what the other was sensing becomes known. How sad it is when a misunderstanding brews beneath the surface, unresolved, while the pain deepens. 

May the Lord give us grace to be perceptive. Ready to engage. Willing to be engaged. May we be humble, willing to be humbled.

Yet there are times when engagement is painful in itself.  When it is best to just let time have its way. At least "for a time".

 May we prayerfully pursue insight, letting the Lord reveal truth to our own fallen hearts, recognizing where we have fallen short. Possibly in the way we perceived things or in our behaviors that created the challenge in the first place.

May we give our life coins to Jesus, both sides. May we allow Him to flip the coin over and help our hearts to be touched by the way others see things. May we be willing to enter into a time of coin flipping with someone when misunderstanding or hurt seems apparent.

 Life is made up of interactions, like spiritual coins in our pocket change of life. May we allow God to help us use our spiritual coins to purchase "good will among men".

May we look to Jesus, our "change maker", to help us with our "change",  and to see 

... the other side of the coin.