As a couple exchanges their vows,( those vows include these words) for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health, for better for worse.
It could also be said: for better or bitter. Or bitter or sweet.
Life just has some bitterness built into it. Everyone comes to bitter waters at some point in their lives. Possibly the loss of a loved one. Sickness, bankruptcy, divorce, false accusations, rejection, the list goes on, and on.
One of the things that we have to come to grips with and be honest about is that many times the bitter waters in our lives is just the operation of the law of sowing and reaping.
In other words we are reaping the fruit of wrong decisions, wrong actions, wrong attitudes, and wrong words.
Gal 6: Be not deceived God is not mocked whatsoever a man soweth that shall he also reap.
Lvb Dont be misled; remember that you cant ignore God and get away with it.
Phillips Bible: Dont be under any illusion, you cannot make a fool of God. A mans harvest in life will depend entirely on what he sows.
Lvb A man will always reap just the kind of crop he sows.
Simply put: Our lives are the product of the seeds we sow.
I understand that you may have been dealt a bad hand in life.
Your daddy was abusive, alcoholic, strung out on drugs, or you might not even know who your daddy is.
You may have been born on the wrong side of the tracks, raised in the projects, you didnt have any money.
You may not have had the opportunities others did.
Possibly you were rejected, disowned.
All of that may be true, but that is what happened to you, that is not who you are.
*You decide who you will be.
*Even the most dire of circumstances can be the tool that shapes the greatest life, it depends on how you face them, and how you respond to them.
*Decisions determine your destiny.
*Decisions have consequences.
*Your life is the product of your decisions.
*You dont decide your destiny, you discover it, however the decisions you make will determine whether or not you fulfill your destiny.
Every decision you make in your life will either move you closer to your destiny, or farther away from it.
Destiny is not an accident, it is a deliberate choice. You may stumble into favorable circumstances from time to time. But you wont stumble into your destiny. You will have to work, and fight, and sacrifice, and go through seasons of testing, and trials. You will have to allow yourself to be challenged, and you will have to go through seasons of changes.
The Bible says, the Kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force. Mt 11:12
There are so many people in the church who have assumed the attitude that God loves me just like I am, he doesnt try to change me, and so you shouldnt either. Well the truth is nothing could be farther from the truth.
So lets analyze this philosophy Yes God loves us all, and he took us all just as we were, when we were lost in sin. But to say he doesnt want us to change, or he is not wanting to change us is not only wrong, it actually anti-biblical. It is contrary to the teaching of the Bible, and it would put the Holy Spirit out of business.
2Co 3:18 But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.
Ro 12:1-2 I beseech ye therefore brethren by the mercies of God that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world, but be ye transformed = Changed, by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove, what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God.
If you were already everything you should be and could be… you would already be at the end of your journey.
The reason youre still here, and you havent reached the end of your journey yet is because God isnt finished with you yet, youre still in process. There are still changes to be made in your life.
Nothing will change in your life until you quit blaming every body else for your problems and start recognizing that the only one who can decide your future is you.
*You may have been rejected but you are not a reject
*You may have been victimized, abused and misused. But that was an event, it is not who you are.
*You may have failed but you are not a failure.
What happened to you when you were 7 or 13 years old happened, you couldnt help that, you were a child.
But at 45, and 59, and 65 years old, the life youre living today is the product of your choices, and the seeds that youve sown.
I cant blame my daddy, I cant blame my momma, I cant blame the church, and I cant even blame the devil.
I have a choice to make, I can let what happened to me, or didnt happen for me, make me bitter and resentful and angry and miserable, I can judge everything through the distorted lens of past hurts and disappointments, and I can sit down and cry about how rotten my life is. And be held in bondage to my past.
Or I can decide that Im not going to be bitter, but Im going to be better, and that my future is going to be better than my past.
I can decide that Im going to sow some good seeds.
I can decide to love instead of hate.
I can decide to forgive instead of hold a grudge.
I can decide to get past the past and start building a new future with God.
A big misconception about being a Christian is that it exempts us from bitter waters.
But the truth is Jesus never said that we would never be hurt, or experience heartbreak and pain,
He only promised he'd never leave us nor forsake us. In fact here in Peter he tells us that we will go through many of the same afflictions as those who are not saved.
(1 Pet 5:9) Whom resist steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world.
Then look at Isaiah
Isa 43:2 When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.
Exe. 15:23 The waters were bitter and they could not drink of it.
This means there was no pleasure no joy, no strength, no refreshment, from or in that circumstance.
Two possible responses to this:
#1 Murmur and complain, begin to resent and blame God
#2 Praise God any way, worship God anyway, not because of the situation but in spite of it.
(Hab 3:17-18) Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls: Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation.
The bible tells the story of Ruth and Naomi. Naomi means pleasant, agreeable, desirable, lovely.
They were living in the land of Moab because of a famine in their homeland. While living there her husband and 2 sons die there. Then she hears of bread in her homeland and returns. She was a very well known and respected woman the whole town is moved by her presence.
They came saying, welcome home Naomi, but she said call me not Naomi, but Marah, for the almighty hath dealt bitterly with me. Marah was a reference back to the bitter waters, where the children of Israel came.
Naomi was saying, I have been through some rough times, life has hit me hard. Life has not been fair to me Ive experienced bitter waters. But what she was really saying is just call me a bitter woman.
In one day Job lost everything that he had. Sheep cattle, oxen camels, servants, and 7 sons. His wife became angry and resentful and bitter. She finally told Job, just curse God and die.
But Job chose to become better instead of bitter. Instead of blaming God. And murmuring against God, he fell on his face, shaved his head and worshipped God.
and in the end God restored Job, and gave him double for his trouble.
Moses cried unto the Lord.
That is one of the first lessons of bitter waters They turn our attention back to God. We reach a point where we are not in control and we need Gods help.
God showed him a tree....
Another lesson is that if we will respond correctly, the darkest and most bitter times will lead us into a greater revelation of who Jesus is, and ultimately a more intimate relationship with him.
When he cast the tree into the waters they were made sweet.
Let me say right here that this doesnt always mean that God just instantly makes the bitter things, the hard things, the undesirable, and painful things in life disappear, or go away.
Lets be honest, thats what we think of when we think of making the bitter waters sweet
Ok, so if thats not what it means, then what does it mean? What is the sweetness that Jesus can bring to the bitter waters of your life?
#1 A greater revelation of Jesus
#2 A deeper relationship with Jesus
#3 A greater dependence on Jesus
#4 The knowledge that as I trust him he will work everything out for my good.
#5 The knowledge that what satan intended to destroy me, is actually working for me.
#6 To use that which satan has used against you, to bring healing and deliverance to others.
#7.To take Goliaths own sword as it were, and cut his head off with it.
Nu. 33:9 Says. They removed from Marah and came unto Elim. What powerful words They removed from the bitter place. That word removed means To pull up stakes, to go away from, and to go forth, or go forward. In other words To not get stuck, to move on. To keep walking.
This is also another way of saying, forgive. Bitterness enters through the door of unforgiveness.
The first step away from bitterness is forgiveness. Forgiveness is a choice. That's why it says, they removed from Marah.
Some of the sweetest words in the bible are: and it came to pass.
Weeping may endure for the night, but joy cometh in the morning.
David said I may walk through the valley of the shadow of death, but Im not building a house there. Its a temporary situation. I refuse to get stuck there.
Friends let me tell you somethingThe devil wants you to get stuck in Marah He wants to make Marah look so big and bad, and feel so big and bad, that it feels like and looks like thats all there is. Like life is just one big ocean of bitter waters.
Tell your neighbor: Dont get stuck there.
Now tell them You have to get moving again.
Now tell your neighbor: Im on my way to Elim.
Now tell them, Ill be looking for you in Elim.
So they pulled up stakes and removed from Marah, and came to Elim where there were 70 palm trees and 12 fountains of water. There was refreshing, there was shade, it was an oasis in the desert. It was a place to forget Marah.
Somebody said, o theres no way, I could get over this. But friend, I want to tell you, our God is so awesome and powerful, that he can turn things around so fast, and so completely, you will feel like Marah was just a bad dream.
Listen to what David said: Psalms 126:1-3 When the LORD turned again the captivity of Zion, we were like them that dream. 2 Then was our mouth filled with laughter, and our tongue with singing: then said they among the heathen, The LORD hath done great things for them. 3 The LORD hath done great things for us; whereof we are glad.
David said when God turned our captivity; it was like we were dreaming. It seemed to be too good to be true. It was so good it made us feel like all those years of captivity, and sorrow, and pain, never existed. Like it never happened.
Friends, just like Job, if we will respond correctly, to the bitter waters in our lives we will become better.
Just like Joseph, he said, the devil meant if for evil but the lord meant it for good, to save much people alive as it is this day.
Joseph went through bitter waters, but he didnt allow them to make him bitter, but instead they actually served to make him better.
Somebody today has come to some bitter waters in your life, man you thought by now you'd be happy.
You thought by now you'd have that house youve been dreaming about.
You thought by now you'd be in full time ministry.
You thought by now you'd be in charge on that job instead of sweeping and mopping the floor.
You thought by now you'd be married to mr right, or mrs right.
You thought by now that sickness would be long gone, over and done, but youre still fighting it.
You thought by now that the grief of losing that loved one, would have dissipated, but it still hurts.
Life just hasnt worked out that way, and youre tempted to join Naomi and say, just call me Marah because Ive experienced bitter waters.
Friends, the bottom line is: We will all come to bitter waters at some point in life; the key is to realize that its up to me and its up to you whether you or I become bitter or better.
I have seen some people sail through storms in life that others didnt make it through. They ship wrecked and they became bitter, and angry, and hateful and resentful, and theyre mad at God.
Dear friends in many cases we have no control over the storms that hit our lives, but we have the power of choice. The power to decide what our response will be.
You have to decide that it doesnt matter what I go through,
Im going to keep on praising God.
I've decided that no one can take my joy from me.
I've decided that no one can decide my future but me, and I am the one who determines my harvest in life by the seeds that I sow.
I've decided that I will sing even in prison, and even in the midnight hour.
Ive decided, I will not let life make me bitter, but I will become better.
Friends, I would never say that God sends sickness or disease to anyone to make them better, or teach them a lesson. But I think we could all say that we have seen some people that went through terrible ordeals in life, but instead of making them bitter, they became better. More compassionate, more caring, more understanding, more long suffering, and even more joyful.
Friends, Jesus still makes bitter waters sweet.
