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As comedian Brian Regan put it, no one looks like a bigger idiot than the guy who suddenly walks into a spiderweb that he didn’t previously even know was there. What was previously just a simple stroll along the sidewalk turns into maniacal flailings as he battles an invisible and unforeseen enemy!
Or, consider your middle toe.
You see, just like when we stub our middle toe – a toe that we hadn’t even noticed before – after it’s injured, every single step, every single breeze, every single ding causes you amplified, throbbing pain and misery.
Likewise, when someone does something to offend you, sometimes every little thing they say or do from then on feels like a deliberate attempt to bring misery to your life.
Or, there are times when we may be hurt by a situation, but may not even know about it; yet we feel the pain afterward, and for some odd reason, we feel more and more angry toward the person who caused the pain with every little thing they do from then on.
The pain is magnified exponentially with every step you take!
Every little thing adds to the pain – where before these same things may have gone by unnoticed.
But now, you view them as deliberate attempts to make your life more miserable.
We see this in marriages, between coworkers, family members, neighbors – it’s pretty much possible in every walk of life.
The key to dealing with these “stubbed toe” circumstances is approaching them with humility, honesty and forgiveness. First take a good, hard look in the mirror. And, as the Bible says, make sure you don’t have a log sticking out of your won eye while you try to deal with someone else’s speck
“Do not judge others, and you will not be judged. For you will be treated as you treat others. The standard you use in judging is the standard by which you will be judged.
“And why worry about a speck in your friend’s eye when you have a log in your own? How can you think of saying to your friend, ‘Let me help you get rid of that speck in your eye,’ when you can’t see past the log in your own eye? Hypocrite! First get rid of the log in your own eye; then you will see well enough to deal with the speck in your friend’s eye.
Matthew 7:1-5
Secondly, be honest with the problem, its intentionality or lack thereof, and with open communication, seek reconciliation and forgiveness in order to repair the relationship – either with the other person or at the very least with your middle toe.