When Life Turns Bitter
All of us have lived long enough to know that life can be bitter. We love the good times. But all we have to do is to live long enough for it to be bitter some times. Life has been described as bittersweet. Good times and bad times mixed together, sometimes giving you a sour taste.
Bitterness can come in all forms. Life can become bitter because of financial situations. Life can become bitter because of family situations. Life can become bitter because of work situations. The problem is, you never know what a day is going to bring. You may wake up to sweetness, but go to bed bitter. Life has a way of mixing it up.
What do we do when life becomes bitter?
Exodus 15:22-27(NIV)
Then Moses led Israel from the Red Sea and they went into the Desert of Shur.For three days they traveled in the desert without finding water. 23 When they came to Marah, they could not drink its water because it was bitter. (That is why the place is called Marah.[f]) 24 So the people grumbled against Moses, saying, “What are we to drink?”
25 Then Moses cried out to the Lord, and the Lord showed him a piece of wood. He threw it into the water, and the water became fit to drink.
There the Lord issued a ruling and instruction for them and put them to the test.26 He said, “If you listen carefully to the Lord your God and do what is right in his eyes, if you pay attention to his commands and keep all his decrees, I will not bring on you any of the diseases I brought on the Egyptians, for I am the Lord, who heals you.”
27 Then they came to Elim, where there were twelve springs and seventy palm trees, and they camped there near the water.
When life turns bitter we need to remember the faithfulness of God.
You see, v. 22 says:
Then Moses led Israel from the Red Sea and they went into the Desert of Shur.
You have to understand that prior to verse 22, is the rest of chapter 15, verse 1-21 – it’s a song of praise that Moses and the Israelites sang to the Lord. And preceding this is chapter 14. And that’s the story of a great deliverance by God, for Israel, through the Red Sea. Through a series of supernatural miracles, God had delivered Israel from Egypt. But then they found themselves stuck between a rock and hard place. Pharoah’s army coming from behind – and a Red Sea in front of them. They found themselves trapped.
Verse 23:
When they came to Marah, they could not drink its water because it was bitter.
When your life gets to v. 23, don’t forget verses 1-22. When life becomes bitter, and you find yourselves at the waters of Marah, and you will wind up there…You’ve got to recollect and recall the faithfulness of God. You’ve got to look back in your history, at your Red Sea experiences.
If He brought you through before, He will bring you through again.

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