Amelia Church of Christ - Christian Church in Amelia, OH near Cincinnati in Clermont County

This is the third week of our series called Umbrellas. In this series, we’re talking about attitudes and actions in our lives that block God’s blessing.

In the book of Ezekiel, God says, “I will send down showers in season; there will be showers of blessing.” (Ezekiel 34:26b, NIV)

God’s desire has always been to rain down blessings on His people. But so many times when those showers come, we don’t experience them because we’re under an umbrella.

Just like a physical umbrella blocks the rain, these spiritual umbrellas block the showers of God’s blessing.

We kicked off the series by talking about the umbrella of pride. If we have a prideful heart, we will not experience God’s blessing in our lives. Pride acts as an umbrella that blocks the blessing.

Then last week, we talked about the umbrella of fear. Fear is a sin that blocks God’s blessing. It’s not an unforgivable sin, but it is a sin that carries steep consequences. God does not bless fearful people and He does not bless fearful churches.

That brings us to this week. The third umbrella in this series is the umbrella of bitterness.

In Exodus 15, the Bible tells a story about the Israelites after they had crossed the Red Sea. Starting in verse 22, the Bible says, “Then Moses led Israel from the Red Sea and they went into the Desert of Shur. For three days they traveled in the desert without finding water. When they came to Marah, they could not drink its water because it was bitter. (That is why the place is called Marah.) [The name Marah means “bitter.”] So the people grumbled against Moses, saying, “What are we to drink?”

Then Moses cried out to the LORD, and the LORD showed him a piece of wood. He threw it into the water, and the water became fit to drink.” (Exodus 15:22-25, NIV)

The people of Israel had escaped from slavery in Egypt. God had just parted the Red Sea. The people of Israel crossed on dry ground, but Pharaoh’s army was swallowed up in the sea. It was an amazing, unbelievable move of God.

But now as the people of Israel are traveling, they came to a tough situation. They had traveled three days through the desert with no water. Finally they came to Marah. They found water, but it was bitter. It was undrinkable.

Because of this, the people began to murmur and grumble. In other words, they became bitter, just like the water.

Bitterness is an umbrella that blocks God’s blessing. In this story, God miraculously changed the bitter water into good water. But don’t miss this…God didn’t give the people water when they grumbled. He gave them water when Moses prayed. If bitterness was the end of the story, it would have also been the end of the Israelites. Bitterness is never going to bring God’s blessing. In fact, bitterness is an umbrella that blocks those showers of blessing.

Let’s go back and explore this story a little more in depth. There are really two sources of the Israelites’ bitterness. And these two sources of bitterness show up in our lives all the time. But if we leave them unchecked, they will cut us off from the blessings of God.

The first source of their bitterness was bitter circumstances.

The people allowed bitter circumstances to make them bitter. Now, I’m not trying to minimize their situation. Walking three days in the desert with no water is not something I ever want to experience. No one in their right mind would be happy about that situation. Those aren’t circumstances anyone would enjoy. But when bitter circumstances turn us into bitter people, we’re in trouble.

In the book of James, the Bible says, “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” (James 1:2-4, NIV)

Consider it pure what? Joy. Consider it pure joy when you face trials of many kinds. And here’s why. Because God is at work in your trial. During the hardest times of your life, God is doing His best work.

But that doesn’t mean that we have no part in this work. James says that these tough times are tests. He says that our faith is being tested. If we maintain our joy in tough times, we pass the test. But if we allow bitter circumstances to turn us into bitter people, we fail the test. And when we fail the test, we short circuit the work that God wants to do in our lives.

But this isn’t just theology that sounds good in a church service. This theology has incredible practical application. All you have to do is look around.

When someone is going through a tough time, look at the way they are reacting. Are they trusting that God is working in their situation? Or are they becoming bitter? And then ask yourself, “How is their attitude impacting their situation?”

I remember a couple of guys that I used to work who both experienced similar situations. Each of them experienced infidelity in their marriages. Their wives cheated on both of them. Both of their marriages ended in divorce.

But that’s where the similarity in their stories ends. One of these guys chose to trust God. The other became bitter.

The one who chose to trust that God was working in his situation was rewarded. He found a great new girl. They got married. And they are still married today, after 20+ years.

The other guy chose bitterness. He never forgave his wife for what she did. He never stopped hating her. The end result was he became incredibly negative about everything. He was critical. He was cynical. He sunk into depression. And he remained alone.

Now, I’m not saying there weren’t multiple factors at play in their lives, but there is no denying that the attitude they chose really helped determine the trajectory of their lives.

Are bitter circumstances turning you into a bitter person? Or are you trusting God in the midst of bitter circumstances? Are you trusting that He is at work, even when you can’t see what He’s doing?

I love the way The Message paraphrase reads in Isaiah 45. “Clearly, you are a God who works behind the scenes, God of Israel, Savior God.” (Isaiah 45:15, The Message)

Maybe you’re in incredibly bitter circumstances. You didn’t ask for this. This is not how you saw things playing out in your life. Here’s the truth that you have to hold onto. Just because you can’t see what God is doing doesn’t mean that He’s doing nothing.

But the problem usually comes down to our perspective. Bitter circumstances make us bitter people if we orient our perspective around them. Instead, we need to reorient our perspective and center it around God’s faithfulness to us.

This is where the Israelites messed up. God had just parted the Red Sea for them. He miraculously rescued them from the Egyptians. Everyone was stoked. Everybody was fired up. Things were going good.

But now, just a short time later, things aren’t going so well. They’re hot. They’re tired. And they’re incredibly thirsty. And now that they’ve finally found water, they can’t drink it.

But because their perspective was oriented around their circumstances instead of God’s faithfulness, they became bitter. They never stopped to ask the question, “Why would God have gone to all the trouble of rescuing us if He just intended to let us dehydrate and die in the desert?”

They forgot His faithfulness of the past, which made them bitter in their present.

If you’re in bitter circumstances, don’t orient your perspective around those circumstances. Force yourself to remember how God has been faithful to you in the past. Why would He have brought you this far just to drop you now?

We read this verse from Romans 8 last week, but I want to pull it out again. In Romans 8:32, the Bible says, “He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?” (Romans 8:32, NIV)

In other words, if God gave up His own Son for us, how can we believe He will just drop us now? If He gave us such an extravagant, undeserved gift, why would we believe that He will stop blessing us now?

The key is your perspective. If you orient your perspective around bitter circumstances, you’ll become a bitter person and you’ll slam the door to God’s future blessing.

But if you orient your perspective around God’s love and faithfulness, you can retain your joy even in the tough times. And you’ll keep yourself open to God’s blessing in the future.

Now, let’s go back and read part of our story from Exodus 15 again. “Then Moses led Israel from the Red Sea and they went into the Desert of Shur. For three days they traveled in the desert without finding water. When they came to Marah, they could not drink its water because it was bitter. (That is why the place is called Marah.) So the people grumbled against Moses, saying, “What are we to drink?” (Exodus 15:22-24, NIV)

We’ve already seen that the Israelites allowed bitter circumstances to turn them into bitter people. But it goes deeper than that. The bitterness wasn’t just directed at their circumstances. Instead, it was very personal. The Bible tells us that they also became bitter against Moses.

So the people grumbled against Moses, saying, “What are we to drink?”

They felt like Moses had led them astray. This was all his fault. If this idiot hadn’t led them here, they wouldn’t be in this mess. He had wronged them, and they were bitter.

This plays out in our lives all the time, doesn’t it? We all struggle with bitterness toward others.

I’m going to go ahead and tell you right now that I’m about to bring the thunder. God has laid some heavy truth on me for this part of the message. The stuff I’m about to throw down is going to make some of you extremely uncomfortable. It’s going to make some of you angry. But this is the Word that God gave me, and I’m going to preach it.

In Romans 12, the Bible says, “Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.

Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord. On the contrary: “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.”

Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” (Romans 12:17-21, NIV)

I’m going to bet that no one here today would say, “Hey, that’s my favorite passage in the Bible!” I’ve got to be honest…I really don’t care for these verses. In fact, if I could take them out of the Bible, I probably would. But we don’t get to do that. The Bible is the inspired, inerrant Word of God…and that includes the parts we don’t like.

Let’s go back and pull out some key truths from these verses. In verses 17-18, it says, “Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.” (Romans 12:17-18, NIV)

There is an automatic assumption in this passage. The assumption is that you will be wronged. Someone will disappoint you. Someone will hurt you. Someone will wrong you. It’s just a fact.

This passage says when that happens, you completely reject the temptation to become bitter. You don’t repay evil for evil. When someone wrongs you, you don’t wrong them back.

And then it says this. “If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.”

You can’t control what other people do. You can’t control their actions, but you can control your reaction. If it’s up to you, you will live at peace with this person.

Now, if this person makes peace impossible, that’s not on you. But if at all possible, you will live in peace with them.

Then the Apostle Paul goes on in Romans 12. Starting in verse 19, he writes, “Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord. On the contrary: “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.” (Romans 12:19-20, NIV)

When we become bitter toward someone, we are assuming God’s role. Bitterness leads to a desire for revenge. But the Bible specifically says that this is a role that is reserved for God.

If this person has truly hurt you, you can trust that God will deal with them accordingly. But don’t assume that you can step in and do His job for Him.

And then Paul wraps up the passage with these words in Romans 12:21. “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” (Romans 12:21, NIV)

Here’s why bitterness is an umbrella. This is why it cuts us off from the showers of God’s blessing. Because it overcomes us.

Paul told us, “Don’t be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” This is in the context of a passage that is talking about bitterness and revenge. Bitterness can overcome us. If we allow bitterness to enter our lives, it becomes all consuming. Instead of being consumed by a desire for God, we become consumed with feelings of bitterness.

I’ve seen it happen. As a pastor, I make people mad. It is a part of the job that they never taught me in Bible College. They never taught me that if I obey God and follow His will for the church, that people would despise me for it. But I’ve come to understand that it’s a reality.

There have been people who have developed such a hatred for me that they won’t even speak to me anymore. I still run into them occasionally. And when I do, they turn the other way. They won’t look at me. They won’t speak to me. They are consumed with bitterness toward me…and, all the while, they claim to be following Jesus.

Here’s the thing…that’s not possible. In 1 John 4, the Bible says, “Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen.” (1 John 4:20, NIV)

Now, you can get mad at me if you want, but I didn’t write this. God did.

Let me sum this verse up for you. You only love Jesus as much as the person you love the least. Take a minute and picture in your mind the person that you love the least. Maybe you even hate them. Maybe you despise them. According to this verse, you only love Jesus as much as you love them.

You simply can’t claim to love God if you are harboring bitterness toward somebody else.

“But you don’t know what they did to me.” We’re not talking about them. We’re talking about you. Like I said, you can’t control another person’s actions. But you can control your reactions. And if your reaction is to allow yourself to be consumed with bitterness, then please stop claiming that you love Jesus. Because, according to the Bible, you don’t.

So how should we react? Jesus tells us in Matthew 6. “For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.” (Matthew 6:14-15, NIV)

That’s a nice, warm and fuzzy verse, isn’t it? I told you this message is a hammer. But again, I didn’t say this. Jesus said it. In your Bible, this baby is in red letters.

And Jesus shows us just what kind of umbrella bitterness is. If we allow bitterness to consume us…if we don’t forgive the person who hurt us…God will not forgive us. We will be cut off from His forgiveness.

Somebody in this room needs to forgive your spouse. They hurt you because they are an imperfect, flawed human being. God is calling you to forgive them.

Someone else in this room needs to pick up the phone and talk to that person that you haven’t spoken to in years. “What if they won’t talk to me? What if they yell at me? What if they hang up on me?” Remember what we read earlier. As far as it depends on YOU, live at peace with everyone. Their reaction is their responsibility. But it’s up to you to release your own bitterness.

Maybe the person you need to forgive is in this room. They are part of our church. Bitterness has no place in the Body of Christ. No place. If you are harboring resentment and bitterness and unforgiveness toward someone else in our church, you have got to release it. You have to talk with them. You have to forgive them. You have to let go of the past. You have to, not because I said it, but because the Bible says it.

In 1 Corinthians 13, the Bible says that love “keeps no record of wrongs.” (1 Corinthians 13:5b, NIV)

It’s time to let go of the past. It’s time to let go of the bitterness. It’s time to put the record of wrongs through the paper shredder and let it go.

This week we went to Ryan’s school for parent/teacher conferences. Nicki and I were thrilled as the teacher raved about Ryan. “He’s such a great kid. He’s doing great work.”

I’ll be honest…the buttons on my shirt were just about to pop off. And that’s when she let us see the journal that Ryan writes in everyday. And for whatever reason, we flipped open to his journal entry from October 12.

On that day, his teacher told all the students, “Write about something that makes you angry.”

Ryan wrote, “I’m angry that I have a younger brother. I wanted to be an only child. I’m angry at my mom and dad for giving me a brother.”

Wow! Our son has been harboring a lot of anger and resentment toward us, and we didn’t even know it! Time to let it go, son!

And that’s our Heavenly Father’s message for us, too. Time to let it go, son. Time to let it go, daughter. Love keeps no record of wrongs. It’s time to let it go.

In Hebrews 12, the Bible says, “Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord. See to it that no one falls short of the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many.” (Hebrews 12:14-15, NIV)

Make every effort to live at peace with everyone. Seems like we’ve heard that before, doesn’t it? Whenever the Bible says something repeatedly, we’d better pay attention because God is really trying to drive a point home with us. Over and over again, God is calling us to do whatever we can do to live at peace.

And then the Hebrews writer says that we also make an effort to be holy. Without holiness no one will see the Lord. And then he defines one aspect of holiness. One aspect of holiness is to get rid of all bitterness.

“See to it that no one falls short of the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble.” The writer says, “Watch out for that bitter root.” Here’s the thing about roots…they grow. It can start small, but it grows.

Maybe the bitterness in your life is at the root stage. Maybe it has grown. Maybe it has completely overcome you. Whatever stage it is at, you only have one choice. Cut it out of your life.

If you don’t, according to these verses, that bitterness will be an umbrella that will cause you to miss out on God’s grace. Just like the words of Jesus we read earlier, God’s forgiveness to us is contingent on our forgiveness of others.

And then there’s this…the Hebrews writer says that bitterness is a root that can “grow up to cause trouble and defile many.”

It causes trouble and it defiles many because bitterness spreads. Again, I’ve seen it over and over again in my ministry. Someone comes to me with all kinds of bitterness toward me or toward our church. And I’m shocked at the things that they’re saying. They’re not a negative person. They’re not a critical, divisive person. And then I find out who they’ve been hanging out with. And all of a sudden, it makes total sense. They’ve been hanging out with bitter people, and bitterness is contagious. Like the Bible says, it causes trouble and defiles many.

That’s why there is no place for bitterness in the life of a believer and there’s no place for it in the Lord’s church.

God is calling us to a higher standard. A standard that He lays out for us in Ephesians 4. Starting in verse 29, the Bible says, “Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.” (Ephesians 4:29-32, NIV)

Get rid of all bitterness. Get rid of anger and slander and malice. Instead, be kind. Compassionate. Forgiving. Because that’s exactly how God treated you. In Christ, God forgave us. In Christ, we forgive others.

Let’s go back to our story from Exodus 15 one more time. Starting in verse 22, “Then Moses led Israel from the Red Sea and they went into the Desert of Shur. For three days they traveled in the desert without finding water. When they came to Marah, they could not drink its water because it was bitter. (That is why the place is called Marah.) So the people grumbled against Moses, saying, “What are we to drink?”

Then Moses cried out to the LORD, and the LORD showed him a piece of wood. He threw it into the water, and the water became fit to drink.” (Exodus 15:22-25, NIV)

I don’t think I’ve ever really thought about this until this week. What was the solution that God showed Moses? A piece of wood. Essentially, God told Moses, “This piece of wood is the answer to the bitterness of the water.”

You know what hit me this week? Two pieces of wood are the answer to the bitterness in our lives. Those two pieces of wood came together to form a cross. And on that cross, Jesus…God in the flesh…died for you and for me.

When Jesus was on the cross, God laid all of our sin on Him. That means every harsh word…every resentful thought…every instance of bitterness and hate and unforgiveness…Jesus took it upon Himself when He was on the cross.

We’ve worked through some really tough, uncomfortable verses today. So let’s close with one that is absolutely awesome. It’s found in 2 Corinthians 5. “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” (2 Corinthians 5:21, NIV)

This is the beauty of the gospel. On the cross, Jesus took our sin upon Himself. All of it. Nothing held back. And in return, He gives us His righteousness. His sinlessness. His perfection.

Martin Luther called it The Great Exchange. Luther wrote, “Learn Christ and him crucified. Learn to sing to him and, despairing of yourself, say, “Lord Jesus, you are my righteousness, just as I am your sin. You have taken upon yourself what is mine and have given me what is yours. You have taken upon yourself what you were not and have given to me what I was not.”

It’s amazing, isn’t it? Jesus has taken all our sin, including our hate. Our unforgivness. Our bitterness. And He has given us what we could never achieve on our own. Righteousness. Holiness.

That’s why we can’t allow bitterness to dominate us anymore. Because Jesus is offering us a gift that is so much deeper and richer and better. He gave His life so that we could have a totally new life, now and for all eternity.

Mike Edmisten

Tags: bitterness, Exodus 15, Moses, Umbrellas, unforgiveness,