Our church just concluded season 4 of the Chosen. Season 1-3 taught about Jesus, His many lessons, and you got to know the disciples. Jesus taught many valuable lessons, but then in season 4 you venture into the darkness, into the bitter, into the difficult.
Mary Magdalene discussed in episode 8 how in Jesus’s life the bitter and the sweet were intermingled together.
When I was thinking of bitter and sweet I thought of chocolate chip cookies. Think about the recipe- butter, sugar, brown sugar, egg, vanilla, flour, baking soda, salt, chocolate chips. The result is sweet and delicious, but have you ever tasted baking soda or baking powder? Gross, bitter yucky!!! But you must have both to make a great recipe.
You must have the bitter and the sweet, the dark and the light, the good and the bad.
In the Bible, “bitter” can symbolize suffering, sin, or despair, while “sweet” represents divine blessing, joy, or salvation. The contrast is used to show how God can turn hardship into blessing.
There are 3 ways in the bible that bitter and sweet are used.
- The bittersweet nature of god’s word as in Ezekial and revelation. Where similar scenes happen with Ezekial and John. In revelation An angel gives John a small scroll and tells him, “Take it and eat it; it will make your stomach bitter, but in your mouth it will be sweet as honey”
- The contrast between good and evil. The book of Isaiah uses the contrast to issue a “woe” to those who call evil good and good evil, and bitter for sweet (Isaiah 5:20). This serves as a spiritual warning against confusing what is righteous with what is sinful and highlights the deceptive nature of sin which may seem sweet but ultimately brings bitter consequences.
- God turning bitter into sweet. The Israelites found water at Marah that was too bitter to drink. After Moses cried out to the Lord, he was shown a tree to throw into the water, which made it sweet and drinkable (Exodus 15:22-27). This symbolizes God’s power to transform difficult situations.
Everything in life has bitter and sweet or you can look at it as positives and negatives. So how do we wait for the sweetness when we are in a season of bitterness?
- Acknowledge the bitter
- Focus on scripture and prayer
- Find your tribe
- Surrender to God all the bitter and negative
- Practice patience
And always remember to
1.Show up for JESUS – Start your day in the Word.
2. Show up for OTHERS – Serve others, whether they are like you or not, whether they annoy you or are difficult to understand. That is what Jesus did; He showed up for everyone.
3. Show up for YOU – You need to fill your cup before you can help fill others’ cups.
WE WILL FIND JOY WHEN WE SHOW UP FOR JESUS, OTHERS, AND OURSELVES.
As Father Mike says, “You pray for me, and I will pray for you.”
And as Tara Leigh says He’s where the joy is.
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