If a wise man contends with a foolish man, Whether the fool rages or laughs, there is no peace. -Proverbs 29:9 (NKJV)

Sometimes, you just cannot get through to someone. Reason doesn’t work. Compassion doesn’t work. Appealing to commonalities doesn’t work. It’s like talking to a brick wall.

As a person who’s a “fixer,” someone who wants to fix situations and problems, this is a very frustrating place to be.

Sometimes, God wants you to discern that you cannot get through. In times like those, with people like those, pray for them. Pray that God can make a way through to them. It could even be that God may not want to!

Whether it’s a difficult person or a situation, it may not be us whom God wants as the instrument to change–no matter how much we want to be. If we truly believe His plans and timing are perfect, then let us surrender in obedience, and be His instruments where He intends us to be.