I was driving into work one day and ran upon this little guy. He was in the middle of the road and moving a bit slow, as you could imagine. When he saw me coming, he tried turning around. Lol. What! I probably could’ve made it around him, but I didn’t want him to possibly get hit by the next vehicle that would pass by.

I put my truck in park, turned my flashers on and jumped out for the rescue. When I went to grab him, he began jumping and turning and snapping at me. “What the heck, bro!” I grabbed him by his shell and man, he went at me like desperately trying to bite me as I took him to the side of the road.

People can sometimes be like this. Especially people coming out of painful life-altering situations. Sometimes we may help people who are just not going to understand they are being rescued. They are scared, dirty, disoriented, confused, vulnerable, in a difficult transition in their life, and in all their hurt and confusion, they are sometimes going to lash out at you, not trust you, and maybe even hurt you.

Difficult people, well, they still need our help. They still need someone to set the brake, try and block the road from more oncoming danger, alert others with “caution lights,” and try to prevent further damage. They may be tired and worn out and not sure which way to turn, they only know they are in the middle of something uncomfortable, confused, and not seeing their way clearly. People like this are hard to deal with, but it’s still up to us to help them. Hurt people will hurt people. Maybe that’s why Jesus asked us to deny ourselves so that we can minister effectively. So that the hurt people can be helped and healed. Even the difficult ones.

He sent out his word and healed them,
and delivered them from their destruction.
— Psalm 107:20