When misunderstood and misjudged

We should not be too surprised when misunderstood and misjudged by others. There are a million reasons this happens given the way we all are. But we should be ready to react properly when it does. If we know how to, we can even take advantage of those occasions.

We have to be clear about this. That we get misunderstood and misjudged by others does not give us the right to do the same to them. That would be following the discredited law of Talion. We should not respond to these situations simply on the impulse of our gut reactions.

We need to be calm and figure out what the most prudent way to react is. We need to pause and pray, bring matters to the presence of God, asking for his guidance. We have to learn how to hold our horses. What we cannot understand and handle, let's leave them in the hands of God.

In the meantime, let us console ourselves with the thought that by being misunderstood and misjudged, we actually liken ourselves to Christ who converted that predicament as our way of salvation. With him, we will also have a way out of this predicament.

That consideration should calm us down and help us avoid experiencing unnecessary anguish and bitterness. It would foster a spirit of sportsmanship. Setbacks like these should sharpen our desire to play better, so to speak, and not to waste time brooding with bad thoughts and judgments.

There will always be lessons to learn when we are misunderstood and misjudged. Never forget that if certain bad things happen, it is because God allows them to happen. And if they happen, it is because God wants to convey something good, a saving message for us or that he wants us to derive something beneficial to us.

These occasions actually give us precious insights about our weaknesses and the weaknesses of others. They show the fragile condition we all are in, at the same time we also know there is a way to handle this condition properly.

We should be quick to ask God for guidance. We should avoid getting stuck with our own devices. We are completely helpless before certain mysterious things in our life. Only in him can we understand our situation, knowing why God allows it to happen. Only in him can we repeat St. Paul's words:

"We are pressed on all sides, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body." (2 Cor 4,8-10)

Also, St. Paul said: "God works all things together for the good of those who love him, who are called according to his purpose." (Rom 8,28) So, the crucial thing to do is to be with Christ and to follow his will, no matter what.

This should be our reaction whenever we are misunderstood and misjudged. This is not hard to do. We just have to practice it more often, because as they say, "practice makes perfect."