Psalm 34:8-10(NLT)
“8 Taste and see that the Lord is good. Oh, the joys of those who take refuge in him! 9 Fear the Lord, you his godly people, for those who fear him will have all they need. 10 Even strong young lions sometimes go hungry, but those who trust in the Lord will lack no good thing.”
Single women that are the head of their households sometimes feel as though they have to continually press themselves to stay strong, vigilant, and loving. With all we have to deal with, being a single mother is sometimes way more challenging than we ever could have imagined. You don’t want to become an angry or cynical woman, but when so many things have gone wrong in your life, defenses can get worn down. Even though we know that resentment and anger can block our blessings, many of us begin to harbor bitterness toward the people, relationships, and situations that have caused us harm.
The remedy to being overcome with feelings of bitterness, regret, or resentment is found in Jesus Christ. We sometimes think we should be able to deal with complicated emotions and make them go away on our own. We can’t. If you and I had the power to make ourselves right before God, we probably would have done it a long time ago. Jesus Christ took all our baggage and negative stuff to the cross. The Apostle Paul tells us in Galatians 2:20(NLT), “My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”
Our strength comes from our choice to walk in what Christ has accomplished for us on the cross. Not only was our old self crucified with Christ, but we were resurrected to new life with him as well! This resurrected life is life in the Spirit, where everything we do is yielded to the leadership of the Spirit of the Living God.
The Spirit lives inside of us, and Philippians 2:13 tells us that he, the Spirit, works in us to will and do of God’s good pleasure. It may seem as though we have to mask our pain to put up a strong front, but we don’t have to pretend to be strong. Through God’s Spirit we are strong. Our strength comes from Him. It’s God that has done all of this for us! He’s the One who sent His Son to save us from death and darkness. He’s the One who has placed His Spirit in us to lead, guide, and direct us through life. And He’s the One who tells us to lean totally and completely on Him, because He will supply all our needs.
Yes, there are many that have been waiting to see results from their prayers a long time. And yes, life can be challenging, but our hope is in Christ. The greatest thing we can do is stop resisting what God wants to do in our hearts and let Him have His way. We must simply surrender—surrender our pain—surrender our bitterness—surrender everything to Him. We can’t do anything with all that negative stuff. We can’t fix it; we don’t have a clue, but God knows exactly what needs to be done in our souls to break the heavy chains of emotional pain and grief. He has made it possible for you and me to walk in the liberty of Christ! We must trust this with our whole hearts.
Psalm 34:8 invites us to taste and see that God is good! But some of us haven’t yet tasted. We’re looking for joy in the wrong places. We’re trying to hold on to the anger, and not be forgiving in our hearts. But we must let go of all of these emotional heavies, because the bottom line is that God wants His daughters and sons to be blessed. We can’t open our arms wide to receive what He has for us if our arms are already full of stuff that isn’t useful for our journeys. We’ve got to release the past, embrace the new, and remain committed to God through Jesus Christ. We must continue trusting Him, even though life isn’t always easy. We must never give up hope and continue believing God’s promises. Taking refuge in our Heavenly Father isn’t arduous. It’s our joy! It’s seeing firsthand, for ourselves, that as long as we remain in Him, failure is not an option, because He is good through and through.■
Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.
“Overcoming Bitterness and Resentment ” written by Kim Times, edited by Reverend Fran Mack for Sundie Morning Sistas ©2020. All rights reserved. All done to the glory of God through Jesus Christ, our Lord! SMS is dedicated to inspiring and encouraging Christian Women through the Word of God.