In Exodus 15:22-27, the children of Israel had been out in the wilderness 3 day & they found no water. They came to Marah but they could not drink the water because it was bitter....hence the name as Marah means bitter. Moses cried out to the Lord seeking what should be done as the children of Israel started to grumble. The Lord showed Moses a tree & when Moses threw the tree into the water it became sweet.
Our lives as Christians are wells that others can come to & drink from. "How well is your well?" is the question I heard the Lord asking me today. Many things have occurred in my life over this past year. Many circumstances & situations have come my way that could make me bitter or better. I would love to say that it has all been better, but there were some pretty bitter things that have occurred....whether Father filtered or just slings from the enemy.
Bitterness is like poison to your soul, it's a bad taste in one's mouth & spirit. It can cause you to isolate & miss out on the sweetness of God & others in your life. God showed Moses a tree......a foreshadow of the Cross. When Moses put that tree into the water it became sweet. When we put the Cross in the midst of every bitter circumstance & situation.....when we put Jesus in the midst....it can become better & sweet again. When people become bitter it is because they are focusing on the circumstances & neglecting God in their lives.
The purpose of the wilderness is to have a face to face encounter either with God, with the enemy or with yourself. God led me into the wilderness for an encounter with Him and myself. He led me into the wilderness to teach me to trust Him & Him alone. But He also led me there to have a face to face encounter with the weaknesses in me. The weakness of bitterness that has poisoned this well & that has the potential to poison those that drink from it.
Jesus on the days leading up to & the day of His Crucifixion was wrongfully accused, mocked, & abandoned. He was denied 3 times by one of His trusted disciples & friend. He was beaten, bruised & killed for no just cause according to man's law, but God had a plan much higher then man's. Jesus could have become bitter before His death, but He instead counted it all as joy for what was set before Him. Why didn't He become bitter? Because He had the sweet communion of the Father & with us. He had God's plan & purpose before Him of being the redemptive Lamb.
My weakness is I focused so much on the not so fair circumstances & situations that have happened in my life so much so that I neglected God. I couldn't understand the "why" behind what was happening. People failed me left & right so I naturally thought God was going to fail me as well. People I thought were my friends abandoned me, so naturally I thought God was going to do the same. But wonderful Father He is.....He loves me so much so that He will not leave nor forsake me. He loves me as I am but also loves me enough to cause me to change.
Father, I pray not only for myself, but those who's well may be bitter today. I repent for neglecting You & our relationship. I repent for not believing that You wouldn't leave me & for not trusting You to take care of me. Forgive me for seeing You the same as the others in my life that had failed & abandoned me. Jesus I invite You once again into this life I keep trying to call & claim as my own. I invite all that You accomplished on the cross into the midst of my situations & circumstances. Holy Spirit help change what once was bitter into something now so sweet. Change this once bitter well into something sweet that others can drink from once again & be drawn to the Living Waters of life that feed it. Let my life lead others not to bitterness but to betterness in Christ alone. In Jesus' name, Amen.
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