I have struggled for several days maybe weeks, with some things that have caused me to be angry or resentful. I know the Bible has much to say about anger and resentment. It is amazing how just when you need it most, God provides a word. I have been reading the Women's devotional guide to the Bible by Jean E. Syswerda, a gift from a dear friend at church, who also rode motorcycles with us. I must admit I have not used it everyday, hence the opportunity for God to supply what I need when I need it most.
It is no happenstance that Satan uses the things closest to our heart to bring about attitudes that are not pleasing to God. He (Satan) does not care who or what he uses to separate us from God. That is what is happening to me at the present. It is not the other person(s) who is angry, resentful, or bitter. I know what God's word says about unforgiveness. I know what it does to my relationship to Him and to others, yet I sometimes feel like a doormat. I don't believe He expects us to lay down and accept whatever comes our way. Hence, "Be angry and sin not." Somehow I cannot quite figure out exactly what that means. I do more than anything want to be an instrument of His design, but somehow I feel like I keep being tripped up by these emotions, which are in no way Godly. I sometimes feel like Naomi (pleasant) who wanted to be called Mara (bitter). I think for most of my life I have been a positive person, but lately I have not been very pleasant. Please pray for me that I will see what God's purpose is in all this and that I will extend the kind of attitude that will be pleasing to Him.
When Naomi returned to Bethlehem "she could not see the blessing of her daughter-in-law or the compassion of old friends who greeted her eagerly when she returned form Moab. But God hadn't forgotten old Naomi-mara. He was getting ready to make some radical changes not only in her life but in her character."
Bitterness is brought about by unforgiveness. It comes from looking at the negative instead of life instead of the positive. Once when I was in college, I was talking with a friend about some things that were going on in her life. She said, "Do you just have to be Pollyanna ALL the time?" I am afraid I would not be accused of that at this point in my life.
When life throws darkness and disaster your way, God has the same plan in mind (as He had for Naomi). He isn't the author of your troubles, contrary to what Naomi asserted in Ruth 1:21. But He is eager to use them to upgrade your character. For the believer, all of life's events have purpose. God carefully orchestrates the good and the bad into a design that builds beauty and grace into a believer's character. (Rom 8:28) If the believer allows it and trusts God to do it, that is." PLEASE PRAY for me that I will be able to do this.
"If you respond with anger and bitterness toward life's circumstances, whatever they are, your name will always be Mara. You bitterness will twist your countenance, you relationships, and your personality into a caricature of what God intended you to be. If, however, you CHOOSE to look at life as God's classroom, one where He's teaching and molding you into His planned design for you, your countenance, you relationships, and your personality will be awe inspiring, a thing of grace and beauty."
I pray that my life WILL be a thing of grace and beauty instead of Mara!
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