Kindle Notes & Highlights
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March 29 - April 8, 2024
wonder if many of us have been so conditioned by a watered-down “just be joyful” version of Christianity that we are practically incapable of acknowledging aspects of our lives that are being played out in the minor key. We may have even convinced ourselves that talking about trials and disappointments will lead to a bitter heart and lifestyle. What if the exact opposite is true?
“They shall eat the flesh the same night, roasted with fire, and they shall eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs” (Exod. 12:8). The Lord never wanted his people to forget or ignore the bitter circumstances that attended their enslavement. Instead, he wanted them to face and even memorialize them. These bitter herbs were a kind of lettuce or endive.
First, they are indigenous to Egypt.2 This was Egyptian food. Wherever God took the Israelites in the wilderness wanderings and on into the promised land, he wanted his people to remember what it was like to live under the strong and relentless hand of their Egyptian oppressors. Second, the grammar suggests that the bitter herbs were not some sort of garnish but “the basis of the meal.”3 God’s chosen people were to face, year after year, the bitter circumstances their evil captors placed upon them.
Then came the odd and yet delicious taste of unleavened bread, baked that way because of how quickly the Lord’s deliverance would come. The sensation is markedly different. Now at least there’s some sense of relief, something to balance the bitterness of the herbs.
Then, as a Christian, think about the Lamb to whom all of this pointed. Could facing the bitterness of our reality make it more likely that we can and will delight in the sweetness of our Savior?
For Hannah, as well as for you and me, bitterness is not first a response; it is first a reality.
Inward grief was made to work and ferment by want of vent. Utterance is the natural outlet for the heart’s anguish, and silence is, therefore, both an aggravation of the evil and a barrier against its cure. . . . Silence is an awful thing for the sufferer. Mourner, tell your sorrow; do it first and most fully to God, but even to pour it out before some wise and godly friend is far from being wasted breath.
There’s no question that while grumbling and complaining will lead to sinful bitterness, so will ignoring the hurt, suffering in silence, or affixing a plastic smile to a broken heart. Bitterness is not first a reaction; it is first a reality—and you must face it well.
Maybe we should stop grumbling about bitter circumstances on the one hand and ignoring their presence on the other. Instead, we should sit down at the table the Lord has prepared and take a bite of bitter herbs. Then another, and another. Be honest about the presence of bitter events in your life. Let those sour, brackish, poisonous realities prepare your life and heart for something sweet.
Being honest and open about the bitter aspects of this present life has a way of quickly bringing you to the end of yourself. That can be a very good thing if you will then admit your inability to handle life on your own and turn to Jesus Christ in repentance and faith.
C. H. Spurgeon reportedly told his church family, “I have learned to kiss the wave that throws me against the Rock of Ages.”7 Exactly.
First, God delights in placing us in unusual, unexpected, and uncomfortable situations and then asking us to trust his Word, his character, and his plan.
God is honored when we come to him in faith.
Second, often God’s ways and plans are completely different from what we might have wanted or thought on our own.
What does all this have to do with bitterness? You and I don’t become bitter in our hearts when the Lord allows everything to go just the way we wanted or anticipated. Rather, in all those times, large and small, when his plans and instructions are vastly different from our own—that’s when the sparks fly and the recesses of our hearts are exposed.
We should be asking ourselves, What am I wanting right now, and is this a desire God can bless?
Sinful bitterness in the heart always begins with misplaced desires. Often they come in the form of unreasonable expectations we set up for the people and situations around us. Our children, spouse, coworkers, neighbors, and everyone else must behave in a certain way. We
Each time we review the disappointment and failure of someone else in the past, the temptation is to paint them a bit worse and ourselves a bit better.
We must realize that there is a great difference between God’s discipline and His judgmental punishment. As Christians we often have to suffer painful consequences for our sins, but we will never experience God’s judgment for them. This punishment Christ took completely on Himself in the crucifixion, and God does not exact double payment for any sin. Though we deserve God’s wrathful punishment because of our sin, we will never have to face it, because Jesus endured it for us. Neither God’s love nor His justice would allow Him to require payment for what His Son has already paid in full. In
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The beauty here is that we don’t have to be like Esau. Instead of selling our birthright for a single meal, we can embrace God’s eternal plan and purposes whatever the cost and the pain involved. When our hands become weak and our knees become feeble, we can “fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith” (Heb. 12:2). As we do so, we have God’s promise that we will not “grow weary and lose heart” (12:3).
Our hearts contain key ideas about God, ourselves, those around us, and our circumstances. If our core beliefs are skewed, we are well on our way to sinful bitterness of heart and life.
Put Off Put On Core Beliefs Core Beliefs God is not worthy of my trust or devotion. I’m justified in despising him and his plan for me. God is good, merciful, and just. I want to love him and seek his eternal plan. I’m the center of the universe, and my desires should reign supreme. God created me to subdue the earth, including my own passions, to bring glory
It only takes occasional bitterness to poison a situation or relationship.
“This wisdom is not that which comes down from above, but is earthly, natural, demonic” (James 3:15). Our adversary the devil is the father of lies and is delighted when we speak words that are false, proud, jealous, and motivated by selfish ambition. In that sense our bitter words glorify him instead of glorifying Jesus. Few things could be worse than that.
The challenging reality here is that a person can talk about God and even emphasize certain attributes of God without believing he is a good and rightful king. The cracks in our theology will be small at first—they certainly are in the case of Naomi. However, they are clearly there, and they are about to become far worse. Do you see how a bitter heart is molded?
This is what happens when we respond to bitter circumstances without a firm and growing faith in our rightful King. Invariably we look at our own resources and find them lacking. A bitter heart is being molded further.
Yes, she believes in God’s sovereignty, but she does not believe in his goodness.
He is not her king in any practical sense, because in her mind he is not qualified
Sometimes the greatest antidote to bitterness is to patiently wait on the Lord.
