Being honest and open about the bitter aspects of this life has a way of quickly bringing us to the end of ourselves. That can be a good thing if we will then admit our inability to handle life on our own and turn to Christ in repentance and faith. But the problem is that many of us don’t know how to do this. According to psalm 51:10 we are encouraged to take time to reflect on our lives and see the work that God is doing in our heart to conform us into the image of His Son. Self-reflection can be incredibly convicting. The reminder of where bitterness starts can cause us to ask penetrating questions about the impact we are having on the people around us. Bitter circumstances do not happen because we are sinners, bitter circumstances come upon us because we live in a sin cursed world. Our self-reflection, enables us to understand that circumstances are permitted by the Lord in order to allow us to see what we have learned in our journey through this life. What is important is not what we have accumulated, or what it is that we think we may be losing … READ MORE

While grumbling and complaining will lead to sinful bitterness, so will ignoring the hurt, by suffering in silence, or affixing a plastic smile to a broke heart. In Psalm 39 we see that David did not want those who did not know the Lord to misunderstand and possibly twist his words and justify all sorts of sinful behaviors, but that does not mean that David suffers in silence. He takes his grief and pain before the Lord and reveals his heart in verses 3-8. He acknowledges that “His hope is in the Lord” in verse 7, and lays the matter before Him. The key to navigating through the wrong extremes when responding to trials is to recognize and remember that God has a purpose. If we lack the wisdom to understand our trials we need to come before God, to gain understanding, not to accuse Him of being unfair, but to understand and see the plan of God in allowing these things to enter into our lives. God then brings people along in our lives to help us bear our burden. others cannot carry the burden for us, but they can come alongside of us and support us in the … READ MORE

Doesn’t it seem that some people are professional complainers? Remember the children of Israel right after they finished crossing the Red Sea in Exodus 15:22-24, and the got out into the wilderness and began complaining about not having the water they wanted. God’s people are often incredibly skilled at complaining. We read in Philippians 2:14-16 Do all things without complaining and disputing, that you may become blameless and harmless children of God without fault int he midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast the word of life, so that I may rejoice int he day of Christ that I have not run in vain or labored in vain.” We know that complaining is an extreme but what we do not realize is that complaining naturally leads to an even more sinful expression in our hearts: bitterness. Complaining piles on the clogged stream of thinking in our lives that causes us to lose perspective and direction, which makes a bad situation worse. What is the answer to overcoming complaining. First, remember what God has done for you in the past – He is the same, and He has promised that … READ MORE