Ruth 1:20-21 And she said unto them, Call me not Naomi, call me Mara: for the Almighty hath dealt very bitterly with me.
As I stand before you today, I want to lift up a thought that will stir your spirit: I Was Bitter but Now I’m Better.
Touch your neighbor and say: “Neighbor, I’ve been through some bitter seasons, but God made me better!”
Now, the word Mary in Hebrew comes from Miryam, which means bitterness.
Isn’t it something that one of the most honored women in history, the mother of Jesus, the Savior, the Christ, carried a name that meant bitter?
It’s amazing, but yet God used her to birth the Better Way into the world, the Savior of the world. Somebody shout, from bitter to better.
There is the Reality of Bitterness
Life will give you reasons to be bitter. Just ask Naomi in the book of Ruth.
She lost her husband.
She lost her sons.
She left Bethlehem full but came back empty.
She even told the people, Don’t call me Naomi (pleasant), call me Mara which means bitter.
Bitterness is what happens when your loss becomes larger than your hope.
Bitterness is when your pain starts to poison your perspective.
Bitterness is when yesterday’s wounds begin to rewrite tomorrow’s hope.
Bitterness is when your heart holds on to what your hands should have already released.
Bitterness is when you let the offense against you become the identity within you.
But here’s the good news: God never leaves us stuck in bitterness.
Help me prophecy and say this with me: My bitterness is not my ending it’s my beginning.
Mary — Bitter Name, Better Purpose
Mary’s name meant bitter, but her assignment was beautiful. Out of bitterness came blessing.
Out of pain came promise.
Out of rejection came redemption.
Think about it: When the angel told Mary she would carry the Christ, she could’ve said, why me? I’m too lowly. Look at even what my name means. My name means bitter.
But instead, she said, be it unto me according to your word.
That’s when her bitterness shifted into her betterness. Because what you accept in faith is greater than what you inherit in flesh
Come on somebody shout I may have been born bitter, but I’m destined to be better.
So allow me to show you how to shift from bitter to better.
First of all you must have faith over feelings – Mary chose faith instead of letting her name define her.
Mary chose destiny instead of letting her history dictate her identity.
Mary chose God’s word over the weight of people’s words about her.
Mary chose purpose over the prison of her past.
And my brothers and sisters we must choose the promise instead of letting the problem paralyze her.
We must choose worship instead of letting things worry us.
Chose your assignment instead of letting the adversity assign you.
The second way to shift from bitter to better is to have Purpose Over Pain. Mary realized that what she carried inside of her was greater than what people called her.
Mary realized that the prophecy she carried, was stronger than the reputation she wore.
Mary realized that her identity in God, outweighed every label placed on her by man.
I feel something right here: Mary realized that the seed of promise inside her was greater than the shame spoken over her.
Mary understood that heaven’s assignment was heavier than earth’s accusation.
Come on here Mary. Mary realized that what God spoke over her could not be silenced by what people said about her.
Mary recognized that her destiny was not determined by her name, but by His name.
We must get past our bitterness and see God’s plans for our future.
Because bitterness is tied to what was, but betterness is tied to what will be.
Say it with me: I refuse to live in Mara when God has called me Mary.
We live in a world full of reasons to be bitter. We lose our jobs, we lose our loved ones, go through divorce, we get face rejection, and deal with injustice. Bitterness is everywhere, you see it in politics, in families, even in churches.
So, understand that bitterness will never heal you. Only God can turn it into better.
So what you lost the job, now you started the business.
So what the relationship ended, now you discover who you are.
So here it is: Naomi was an Israelite woman from Bethlehem.
And during a famine, she and her husband Elimelech moved to Moab with their two sons.
In Moab, tragedy struck her: her husband died, and later both of her sons died as well.
She was left as a widow, with no sons to provide for her, she returned to Bethlehem with Ruth, her Moabite daughter-in-law.
The Meaning of Naomi means pleasant, sweet, and delightful.
The name she wanted Mara which means bitter.
When Naomi returned home, the townspeople recognized her and called out, by say, is this Naomi?
But Naomi, crushed by grief, said, don’t call me Naomi (pleasant). Call me Mara (bitter), because life has broken me.”
In Naomi’s Perspective She felt empty: I went out full, but the Lord brought me back empty.
She left Bethlehem with family, but she came back with loss.
She felt afflicted: She believed that God Himself had turned against her.
Notice her language: The Almighty hath dealt bitterly with me, he has testified against me, and afflicted me.
She renamed herself based on her pain: She identified herself with her suffering, not with God’s promise.
Naomi only saw bitterness, but God was working betterness.
She didn’t know that Ruth the Moabite daughter-in-law who clung to her would marry Boaz, and from that union would come Obed, Jesse, and King David, and eventually Jesus Christ.
What looked like the end for Naomi was really the beginning of a much bigger story.
So, I understand that you were broken, but now you’re stronger.
Come here Marvin Sap. Pastor Sap penned these words:
Never would have made it
Never could have made it, without You
I would have lost it all
But now I see how You were there for me.
And now I can say, I'm stronger.
I'm wiser.
I'm better, much better.
When I look back over all You brought me through I can see that You were the one I held on to.
So now you can Tell somebody sitting in your row. When you look at me, that’s not bitterness you see on me, that’s betterness.
There was a man who once planted lemon trees. Every season, those lemons would come out sour, sharp, and bitter to the taste. He was frustrated and upset until one day he met a woman who showed him how to take those lemons and mix them with sugar, water, and ice.
And for the first time, he tasted lemonade.
The lemons didn’t change, but what he did with them did.
And PTMC, bitterness is life’s lemons. But when God mixes it with His grace, His mercy, and His Spirit, He makes something better. And you’ll be able to stand and say: I was bitter, but now I’m better.
Come on a help me preach this thang by repeating after me.
Say I was bitter, But now I’m better.
I was down, but now I’m up
I was broken, but now I’m blessed.
I was lost, but now I’m found.
Now shout: Thank God I’m better.
I am better because he died for me one Friday evening, but got early, I said early, early on Sunday morning and declared all power is in my hands
