Two Types of People? Read the Signs!

We have all heard  about the two types of people we encounter in life.  I have seen posts, heard messages and even had conversations about it.  It seems that we all agree we have encountered them:

Two kinds of people, the ones that help you and the ones that hurt you.  

The ones that encourage your purpose and the ones that hate.  

The ones that lead you to your future, the ones that keep you in your past.  

The ones that are meant to stay, the ones that are supposed to leave.

I have heard and agreed with many of those comments, mainly because, like others... I have seen both kinds.  I was listening the other day to another of the analogies that talk about the two types of people, and it dealt with embracing one and releasing the other.  But there are too many people in this world to simply separate us into two categories.  I started thinking about all the people I have encountered over the years, and yes... some fit in there, but others were used by God, not just to hinder or promote me, but for so much more. 

SIGNS OF LIFE

To let you know what I am talking about, let's take a road trip.  Imagine you are driving somewhere, maybe you know where you are going, or maybe you don't.  You have STOP signs, that keep you safe, you have CAUTION lights that make you pay attention, YIELD signs that let you know to wait your turn and even FLASHING RED LIGHTS that tell you something is wrong, use another method.  Even DANGER signs that let you know- don't go down that road!  We often run across signs that let us know there is danger or a dead end, construction is going on, there are bumps in the road or turn around.  All of these signs are needed for the road you travel, without them you may not make it to your destination on time.  We don't complain about the signs, because we know why they are there. 

My thoughts are that people are the same.  I remember many times I  stopped what I was doing to help someone, intervened in a matter that had nothing to do with where I was, or where I was going.  Many thought that it was a distraction to my purpose or that it was a waste of time since it didn't propel me toward my future.  But there are moments that we take away just to help others.  We are often road signs for others and don't know it.  Our message may be that it is going to be okay, or that they are on the right track, or the wrong track.  Some signs are bolder, hard not to be seen and seem almost unnecessary, the same with people.  We may not always like it, we may think they are 'haters'. But if we learn from each other, we just might make it where we are going faster and even better. We will never know what our encounter with others may have helped us avoid.  What accident we missed because we  YIELDED our time to someone else. Some people bring delays and others have shown us to NEVER go down that road again.  If nothing else, we should remember to receive the benefit others bring and discard the drama.  I know many times we think it is just as easy as "Either you are for me,  or against me."  But God never said everyone on earth had to be for you, just Him.  We should give people the opportunity to be received and valued no matter what it looks like they bring.

TWO TYPES OF PEOPLE

With all the people in this world, I have to admit, I still think there are two kinds; however we are not limited to: 

The ones that help you and the ones that hurt you.  

The ones that encourage your purpose and the ones that hate.  

The ones that lead you to your future, the ones that keep you in your past.  

The ones that are meant to stay, the ones that are supposed to leave.

I choose to see more in people than that, I still see two kinds ....The ones you are called to help, and the ones called to help you, and both are a blessing.