PART ONE...

The Pothole of Bitterness...

The Heartache That Never Heals!

For at least the last ten years, my loving wife has been dealing with a botched crown job that has left her in much pain and discomfort; but, in just a few short days, our new (and highly skilled dentist) will be replacing that crown with a new and improved one. In this interim period of waiting for this new crown, my wife has mentioned on several occasions that she could not wait to "get rid of this horrible metallic taste in my mouth"....which got me thinking of all the times in my life that I have had this horrible taste in my mouth when someone I love, know and trusted has hurt me and shaken me to my core...that taste that truly starts in my heart and soul tells me that I have run headlong into the Pothole of Bitterness.

We have all been there. You are traveling the highway of life, minding your own business, when  someone says something that is totally false, fabricated and fictitious...with the sole aim of hurting you and damaging your reputation. You muster up the courage to take them on regarding this and to your total dismay, they are not the least bit repentant...how do you respond? For most of us, it is in that moment that we begin to experience that taste of bitterness.

Or what about that promotion at work that you have poured your heart and soul into. You have done everything you can to get noticed so that the only logical choice is YOU...and then, the boss gives it to someone else with fewer skills and a whole lot less time on the job....and before you know it, here comes that test of bitterness that starts in our soul and works its way into our mouth (better watch what you say) and then into our actions (better watch what you do).

Or maybe you have been harmed physically by an abusive mother or father that treated you as a punching bag, blaming you for all their shortcomings and taking out their inadequacies by mistreating and belittling you...can you taste that terrible metallic bitterness as it begins to well up from your soul and makes you heart seem like a stone toward that parent?

Or what upon that sibling that always seem to get what they wanted from your parents while you, your brothers or sisters were scrapping for the tiniest bit of love and affection that might be leftover and fall your way. In the Bible, young Joseph, with his coat of many colors, certainly felt the bitterness of his brothers' hearts when they sold him into slavery and then convinced their father that Joseph had been attacked by a wild animal and killed. If you know the story of Joseph and all the heartache and hardships that he endured as a captive in Egypt, it is easy to imagine that bitterness was at the heart of his surviving instincts. But, I believe it was his desire to see his family again that spurred him on as he followed the leading of the one true God to become second in command, only to the Pharaoh. At long last, when his brothers came to Egypt in search of food, he revealed himself to them. This could have been one of those scenes where they were all cast into a dungeon, never to see their father or the light of day again; but Joseph did not live in bitterness but rather in love and forgiveness...thus he brought the whole family to Egypt to once again live as a family under the covenant of the mighty Jehovah God.

Come back tomorrow for the conclusion of 

THE POTHOLE OF BITTERNESS.