Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice.
Most if not all of us know what it is like to wake up with the thought that life isn’t anywhere near what we would like it to be. Perhaps you felt like that when you woke up today. Physically, emotionally, relationally, financially, and even spiritually, we may be facing especially difficult days, and as a result, we’re tempted to become disillusioned. What are we to do?
One helpful place to start is by asking God for His protection from three powerful sources of spiritual trouble: the “silent killers” of bitterness, resentment, and self-pity. These three will slowly strangle our faith and spill over into envy and malice toward those who have what we so want. So in the situations we face, perhaps known only to us and to God, we need His help in responding with soft hearts instead of harsh spirits.
In his letter to the believers in Ephesus, Paul encouraged—in fact commanded—them to put away all bitterness, wrath, and anger. While it’s easier said than done, Paul’s command itself is that straightforward. In fact, there’s never a command in the word of God that we cannot obey, no matter how difficult it seems, for God always empowers what He commands. So if He says, Get rid of something, you and I can be certain that He can apply the power of the Spirit within our lives to enable us to do what He’s commanded. When we live with bitterness, resentment, or self-pity filling our hearts, then we have only ourselves to blame. Much as I may want to, I can’t put the responsibility on God.
One individual who could have argued that her circumstances legitimized these three poisonous feelings is Hannah, whose story we read of at the beginning of 1 Samuel. She must have battled each one as another month passed by without her falling pregnant, and as another day brought the taunts of her husband’s other wife and the sight of the children God had given to that woman. But she took her frustrations and sadness and she did something good with them: she prayed. She poured her heart out to God. And, knowing she was heard, she walked away at peace. Although at that point her body remained infertile and her circumstances remained unchanged, her spirit had been freed by her heavenly Father.
God protected Hannah from the silent killers of bitterness, resentment, and self-pity—and He will protect us too. You don’t need to stay awake at night, then, trying to ensure that your life works out how you want it to. And you don’t need to be dominated by that sinking feeling upon awakening to another day of unwanted circumstances. Rather, you can use those moments to learn the value of leaving your heart’s questions and the situations you don’t understand in God’s care—which, after all, is exactly where they belong.
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Devotional material is taken from the Truth For Life daily devotional by Alistair Begg, published by The Good Book Company, thegoodbook.com. Used by Truth For Life with permission. Copyright © 2021, The Good Book Company.
