BITTERNESS VS SOVEREIGNTY
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Bitterness And The Sovereignty Of God Isn’t it true that often you and I have every reason to be bitter? I feel sure that each one of us at some point in our lives been exploited, abused, cheated and/or ignored?
So how do we deal with our bitterness? * Joseph in the Old Testament serves as an example of someone who had just cause for bitterness and yet was able to draw on God’s grace to surmount it: * As a lad, God gave him a dream that his brothers would serve him. In jealous retaliation, they sold him to a caravan headed for Egypt. * Ending up as a slave in the house of a military leader, he was falsely accused of rape and imprisoned for an interminable period of time. * Through a remarkable series of “circumstances” he became the prime minister of Egypt. Years later, his devious brothers find themselves in his presence. With every reason to visit revenge upon them, Joseph forgave them and acknowledged God’s sovereign plan in spite of their cruel treatment: But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive. (Genesis 50:20) And so it is to be with us. We must grasp the fact that it is God’s sovereign intention to use the uneven, and most unkind circumstances of life to conform us into His image: And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. (Romans 8:28,29)
If you or someone you know is struggling with bitterness, let me make a couple of suggestions: Make a list of their causes. Then go down the list item by item asking God to use each of these painful experiences to make us more Christlike. Then ask Him to help us forgive the persons who were responsible. Understand that it is only as we draw upon God’s grace that we can turn our bitterness into praise. The alternative is bondage to a morose, angry and self-centered life that only serves to poison everyone around us and thwart our ability to influence others for Christ: Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled; (Hebrews 12:15)
Pastor Woody
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