Happy Monday! I appreciate your comments because I feel the same need for encouraging words as you.
While I was out in my yard the other day enjoying the fresh air and sunshine, I saw this green, luxuriant plant in the middle of my yard. Upon close examination, I found it was a dandelion. I got a firm grip on it and pulled it up, root and all.
Dandelions bloom with a bright yellow flower that we would say is pretty, were it not a weed. After the bloom, it makes a seed head with hundreds of seeds that a wind will blow over my yard and my neighbors’ yards. Soon we will see many baby dandelions coming up from the grass. This is not good!
The writer of the book of Hebrews, in talking about the race we each are running, said in Hebrews 12:15 to watch out lest even a root of bitterness springs up in our lives, troubling us and many around us. The verse says, Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled;
I thought of the story in the book of Ruth when Naomi was returning to Bethlehem after ten years in Moab. She had seen her husband and two sons die.
As she approached Bethlehem, the people asked, …Is this Naomi? She replied, …Call me not Naomi,… (meaning pleasant) …call me Mara:… (meaning bitter) The years had changed her countenance, but even more, bitterness had hardened her.
I am sure most of us have a daily beauty routine—cleansers, lotions, potions, and anything that says, “reduces fine lines and wrinkles.” Whether using drug store products or very expensive “high-end” creams, nothing will soften the lines of bitterness on our faces. Perhaps we should add to our routines a close inspection of even a tiny spot of a bitter spirit.
One of my living heroines is my sister-in-law, Earlyne Stephens. At the age of ninety-four, she is still beautiful. Might it be Oil of Olay? Maybe, but I think it is probably the result of her love of God and love for life and people. Though she has had hard knocks in her life, I do not see a trace of a bitter heart. What an example to follow!
You have heard it said, “Bitterness is the only ingredient that eats its own container.”
When troubles come, and they will, we need to choose whether we are going to be bitter or be better.
By Beverly Hyles
From the Mondays with Beverly blog. Reprinted with permission.
