Better (Not Bitter)
So often
when we
find ourselves
knee and heart deep
in a battle,
we start
to wonder
why this
is happening.
It’s the natural response
whenever we are
dealt something
that seems
so unnatural
and is so unwelcome
in our life.
And for some reason,
the battle itself –
the fight alone –
seems to naturally
bring out
the worst in us,
instead of the best.
Our God
is always at work
in our lives –
even
and especially in
the battles we face.
It is never His intent
for the battles
to make us bitter.
It is His design
for the battles
to make us
better fit
for the Kingdom of God.
Battles,
unlike anything else –
have the potential
to show us
what we
are really made of,
what we
are truly like,
what the
condition of our
spiritual heart
truly is.
How we respond
in the midst
of the battle
determines
the “us”
that will
emerge from it.
Will we fight
and wrestle
and struggle
only to walk away
bitter
at God?
at the world?
at those we love most?
Or will we fight
and wrestle
and struggle
with our inner man –
allowing God’s Spirit
to battle with us –
that we might
walk away
better fit
for the Kingdom of God?
More humble.
More compassionate.
More understanding.
More forgiving.
More wise.
More gracious and graceful.
More like our Jesus.
We may not
be able to
choose our battles,
but we can
absolutely choose
the way
we will allow
the battles
to change us.
May we walk
in them
and through them
with our God
that we might
walk out of them
and emerge from them
more like our God.
~Stacy
Look after each other so that none of you
fails to receive the grace of God.
Watch out that no poisonous root of bitterness
grows up to trouble you, corrupting many.
~Hebrews 12:15
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