Roots of Bitterness

eDevotion

Encouragement for your daily walk with God 

It’s easy to become bitter with people because of what they do to you or say about you. But have you ever thought about being bitter towards God? Maybe you’re in one of those seasons when you don’t like what’s happening in your life and you don’t want to surrender to God’s will about it. Maybe you’re ticked off just enough to say, “This isn’t the way I expected things to go and I don’t agree with what You’re doing in my life right now, God. “

Perhaps He has said to “be still,” and that’s not what you want to do. Like the kid who was told by his Mother to “sit still.” He said, “I may be sitting still on the outside, but inside I’m running around!”

Perhaps you think your alternative plan is better than God’s plan. There’s always an alternative plan. But there are consequences for our “non-compliance.”

When we resist His will, it creates a break in our fellowship with Him. No fellowship with Him also means no joy. In other words, we begin living without His ongoing interaction in our life. And if that scenario continues for any length of time, it leads to no hope. When our hope is gone, it leads to bitterness. Trust me, that’s the worst. You don’t want to go there. 

The antidote for bitterness, as the author of Hebrews explains, is not to fail to obtain God’s grace. It’s available for every trial, every disappointment, and heartache. Neglecting to obtain God’s grace makes life harder, drier, colder, which leads to bitterness. But when you obtain His grace, you can readily say, “Your way is best, I will trust in You.”

I’ve seen it over and over in my life, and other’s too, obtaining God’s grace is best. The alternative is no way to live.

See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no root of bitterness springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled. Hebrews 12.15