Bitter Turned Sweet

"When they came to the oasis of Marah,

the water was too bitter to drink.

So they called the place Marah (which means 'bitter').

Then the people complained

and turned against Moses.

'What are we going to drink?' they demanded.

So Moses cried out to the LORD for help,

and the LORD showed him a piece of wood.

Moses threw it into the water,

and this made the water good to drink."

Exodus 15:23-25 NLT

It seemed their life was one stroke of bad luck after another.  Infertility, debilitating disease, accidents, family drama, legal trouble, pain and heartache.  She liked to say, "If we didn't have bad luck we'd have no luck at all!"

I can related.  Sometimes it feels like I'm left with the short end of the stick, leaving me to wonder, Can I ever catch a break?  Does God have something against me?  Why does everything in my life have to be so hard?

When my heart starts despairing over the state of the affairs of my life, I can trust God.  He has a way of turning what seems bitter into sweetness.

Good out of the Bad

It was the darkest day of his life.  He had enjoyed a few years with the boy who walked beside him oblivious to the turmoil going on inside his father.  Now, he wondered if this precious father-son bond was coming to an end.  While he trusted God enough to do as He asked, Abraham didn't have a clue as to how God would pull this off.  All the man was sure about was that God had asked him to sacrifice the very child through whom the Lord had promised great things and that He was a God who could be trusted. (Genesis 22:1-9)

Abraham knew God could bring his child back to life, but I imagine he must have struggled with the thought of putting his only child through such a trauma.  One of the things I worried about most as a mother was the pain and suffering my child endured.  It tore me apart to think about any of my children hurting without me being there to comfort them.  It is one thing to obey God, but it is a whole other matter when obedience would bring pain to my own child.  What would he think I'm doing to him?  Would he wonder if I never loved him?  How would my obedience negatively affect my child's psyche? These are some of the questions I would have pondered if I were in Abraham's shoes.

As Abraham wholeheartedly threw himself into the task of preparing the altar for the unthinkable, God saw the state of his heart.  He could see that Abraham was willing to sacrifice even his only son.  At the final hour, as Abraham raised the knife to take the life of his beloved son, God stopped him, providing instead a ram caught in the brush. (Genesis 22:10-18)

Through Abraham's darkest hour came a beautiful picture of God's love for us.  Out of God's incredible compassion for those He created in His own image, He was not only willing to sacrifice His own son in a way that would cause Him much pain and suffering, but He went through with the act.  Jesus willingly underwent immense misery and anguish at the hand of His Father who could not comfort Him at the time He most needed His soothing touch.  Sin made it impossible for God to even look upon His Son as He hung upon the cross.  Christ became sin Himself at the request of His Father, knowing this act would mean intense, solitary suffering.  He did it all for love, to bring His people back into a right relationship with the holy Father.

Therefore, when I am faced with difficulties in my own life, I can remember how God can take the ugly and turn it into the beautiful.  He can use pain and suffering to strengthen faith.  He can even take the darkest moment and transform it into the biggest blessing.

God has a way of taking what is the worst moment of my life and transforming it into the best thing that ever happened.

Victim into Victor

She could easily be pitied, the circumstances of her life were so unfortunate.  She lost both of her parents at a young age, leaving her no option but to be raised by her bachelor-cousin.   As she grew up in this single-parent home, she lacked the nurturing touch of a mother.  Even though her adopted father did his best, nothing could take the place of a mother's influence.  Still, she made it to the teen years.  As she nearly became an adult, another tragedy touched her life.  She was taken to the king's palace and prepared, along with countless other young virgins, to enter into a selection process to find the next queen.

While it is true that Hadasseh was chosen to take on the role of queen, I am sure it was not a position with which she was comfortable.  Raised to be a good Jewish woman, the Babylonian ways and custom must have felt foreign and uncomfortable to her.  Amazingly, God used the unfortunate life that belonged to this young girl and transformed her tragedy into triumph.  He placed this so-called victim of the horrible circumstances found in her life into a position of influence.  While there, God used Hadasseh, whom the Babylonian's called Esther, to save His people from an insidious plot devised to wipe the Jews off the face of the earth. (Esther)

God has a way of turning the tables, using the weak to shame the strong and the foolish to discredit the wise. (1 Corinthians 1:26-29)  Therefore, I need never think my position is too lowly.  If He is to get the glory out of my life, I must become less and He become more.  In this upside-down, backwards way of thinking, He can even use rocks to praise His name. (Luke 19:40)

As a result, I can trust God to bring triumph out of my tragedy.  There is nothing that I face that can keep me apart from the God who loves me.  In this way, I am always considered as a conqueror in God's eyes, even if the circumstances of my life bring about pity from those around me. (Romans 8:31-39) Through His ever-present love, I vanquish despair, strike down guilt and rise above hopelessness.  While I may feel like the walking wounded, the blood of Jesus makes me a champion in God's kingdom.

God has a way of transforming a victim into a victor who can boldly approach His throne and receive an unlimited supply of grace. (Hebrews 4:16)

Pain into Peace

She lay under the vehicle, pinned to the cement driveway by it's weight.  My neighbor had been changing the oil in her car when it suddenly fell off the jack.  As she yelled for her family to come help her, unable to budge the heavy burden weighing her down, she wondered if her life was over.  Suddenly, an unexplained peace flooded her being as she trusted the Lord with her situation.

It didn't make sense that the young woman who lived next to me would feel serenity in the middle of such a near-disaster, but that is the kind of thing we can expect from a God who works in ways we cannot explain.  He sends His healing touch to those who cry out to Him as they lay in the hospital bed, suffering from unimaginable pain.  

He can be counted on to give a sense of calmness to the soldier who depends upon His strength in the middle of a firefight with enemy combatants.  

He has a way of comforting those who are grieving the loss of their beloved.

It is often when I reach the threshold of my own ability to withstand the pain of my current situation that I find His love entering my life in a real, tangible way.  Maybe it's the song of a bird that brings back memories of my dearly departed, or the sudden clarity found in the middle of a previously confusing situation, or the kindness shown when I expected none.

God has a way of turning the pain of this life into peace as I trust Him.

While my friend thought her life was filled with bitterness, she was only focusing on the hard things.  Changing her perspective, she was able to see all the ways God blessed her:  The children who grace her table, the miraculous healing, the protection in the midst of tragedy, the deliverance from lawsuits filed against them.  What had seemed so bitter in their lives had been turned into sweetness.  Good came out of the bad, their victim status was transformed into victory, and much peace came through the pain.  It is true that trusting God through faith in Jesus Christ can turn our bitter into sweet.

As I begin this day it is my prayer that I can see my life more from God's perspective, taking note of all the good He brings about each day.

When do I only have eyes for the negative?

How am I failing to trust God in the midst of the mess?