Bounce Back from Bitterness
“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.”
Have I ever told you about “whiny rock?”
I grew up with three other siblings, an older brother and two younger sisters who are identical twins. So yes I am the middle child, although one of my sisters tries to dispute that! Growing up I hardly won any fights because if I was arguing with my older brother he was bigger and smarter than I was, and if I was arguing with one of my sisters it became two on one—before you ask, yes we fought a LOT as kids.
Eventually, my parents would step in, and if you had a bad attitude you had to go sit on “whiny rock.” This wasn’t a time out—time outs have time limits. This was, “Go sit on that rock in the backyard until you’ve got a different attitude!” Didn’t matter if it was snowing, raining, or blazing outside. If you had a bad attitude, guess what, off to whiny rock you went!
And every time my dad would open the back door and call out asking, “You good?“ And if I still had a bad attitude, if I was crossing my arms, muttering under my breath, or if I didn’t answer with “yeah I’m good now.” (And really mean it) he just responded with, “Seems like you need more time on whiny rock!” And he would shut the door!
Looking back now I realized what he ended up teaching me. You see, the problem wasn’t that I got upset or bitter, it was that I was staying bitter. It was up to me how much time I spent on whiny rock. The longer I stayed bitter the more time I spent on whiny rock. The faster I got rid of bitterness, the faster I got off whiny rock. Scripture says,
“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 12:15
The Bible shows us just how toxic bitterness is and that it defiles everything it touches. The lessons I learned taught me that while I could not avoid experiencing the toxic emotion of bitterness and resentment—I could choose how long I stayed in that bitterness. It taught me that I can bounce back quickly from bitterness.
We can control whether or not bitterness takes root in our lives.
So what about you? Are you still on whiny rock?
If so, consider this God opening the door to the backyard asking, “You good?” God has a plan and purpose for your life that is so much greater than you can imagine. His ways are higher than your ways and his thoughts are higher than your thoughts. God has better days ahead for you—but bitterness can’t go with you. How long will you sit in bitterness when you could be walking in the promises of God?
He’s waiting for you, he has blessings abundant for you. Bitterness has no place in the kingdom of God and it has no place in your heart. It is not his desire for you. Rid your life of all bitterness and trust in the Lord, for he is good.
