"Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble [you], and thereby many be defiled" - Hebrews 12:15
The holiday season is upon us once again (can you believe it) and for millions of people it is not a time of rejoicing but of misery and pain. Loss tends to be magnified during this season. Many people live in a perpetual state of bitterness which is manifested in many different ways from depression to alcohol/drug abuse and everything in between.
The trap of depression is a difficult one to escape and it is one I know full well. I've battled depression my entire adult life. I make no bones about this, it is a constant fight and my people are well aware of my struggles. While I don't read my laundry list to them I do let people know that in spite of my position as pastor, I am also a human being and as such have the same weaknesses and flaws as everyone else. I write this so you will know where I am coming from with these comments; I know whereof I speak from personal experience.
The root of addictions and depression stems from bitterness. Life has thrown things at us that we are often unprepared for and unequipped to properly deal with. Bitterness isn't just a man or woman who lives in a state of uncontrolled rage. It takes on many forms but all of them are just as deadly. God knows full well the power of human emotions, in fact, Jesus Himself had to deal with them during his time here (Matthew 26:37-38). Left unchecked, our damaged emotions can bring us to a place of destruction that no man can escape from.
Sadly, the church is not normally a place where one can find comfort in the midst of this storm. In fact, there's not a lot of ministers who know how to help people caught in this maelstrom of emotion. I know I've been buried under a pile of empty Christian cliches like "just trust God" or "Give your burdens to Jesus" when what I needed was someone who could help me cope with my bitterness.
God calls bitterness a root in Hebrews. That isn't a mistake. Roots run deep and over time can be impossible to remove without some pretty heavy equipment. Prayer is a powerful weapon but sometimes we need to use some of the other weapons of our warfare in order to pull down these decades old strongholds in our lives. Again, far too many of our churches are ill-equipped to help people.
Of course, God is more than able to uproot the bitterness in our lives. But, that requires a level of yielding and sacrifice that many are unable or unwilling to submit to. All we know is we are hurting and we need relief NOW! I've buried a lot of born-again Christians who've taken their own lives (including pastors) because they couldn't bear another day in misery.
Ahithophel is one such individual. I'm sure that name is unfamiliar to you unless you've memorized every name in the Bible. We first meet Ahithophel in 2 Samuel 15:12 and his occupation, according to the scriptures, was King David's counselor. Understand that "counselor" in the O.T. isn't the same thing as a counselor today; David didn't need a shrink he needed a military adviser. That was Ahithophel.
If you keep reading in 2 Samuel 15 you'll find Ahithophel changed teams during Absolom's insurrection against his father, David. If you don't know the story, David's son attempted to steal the kingdom of Israel from his father as was predicted by Nathan after David's actions with Bathsheba (2 Samuel 11-12). Many of David's closest friends and advisers betrayed their king in favor of Absolom's coup attempt and Ahithophel was one of them.
But, Ahithophel's story doesn't end with his betrayal. If you read 2 Samuel 17 you'll find a man who's got a blood-vendetta against his former king. Ahithophel doesn't want to just betray David, he wants to kill him himself (2 Samuel 17:2). Absolom denied Ahithophel his request to kill David and Ahithophel responded by going home, getting his affairs in order and hanging himself.
This is not the activity of a stable human being. You can see the bitterness leap off the page as you read Ahithophel's story. The question remains, why was Ahithophel so angry with his former king? What had David done that deemed him worthy of death in Ahithophel's eyes? More information is required; fortunately, the Bible gives it to us.
If you read 2 Samuel 23:34 you'll learn about Ahithophel's family line. According to that verse Ahithophel had a son named Eliam. Again, that name probably won't mean much to you so a little further digging is required. Check out 2 Samuel 11:3. Apparently Eliam had a daughter whose name you'll undoubtedly recognize...Bathsheba. If you know the story of David and Bathsheba (and if you don't I recommend you read 2 Samuel 11 and 12) the pieces of this tale begin to fall into place.
David's actions with his granddaughter and grandson-in-law brought Ahithophel to a place of murderous/suicidal bitterness. From a human perspective we can understand why Ahithophel felt the way he did. Not only did David bring ruin to his family's life he also, apparently, got away with it. God didn't smite David for his sin so Ahithophel took it upon himself to get the justice that God had denied him.
God allows a lot of things to happen that do not make sense to us. From national tragedies like 9/11 to personal ones, if you've lived on this earth for any length of time every single one of us have gone to God with the eternal question, "why?". For many, the answers they get are unsatisfactory. We are taught that God is a God of love and compassion and that he is sovereign. To our thinking that means that God, who is in charge of everything and is motivated by love, must be able to and should be willing to prevent tragedy from occuring. At the very least if He can't or won't prevent tragedy, he should bring swift justice upon those who caused the tragedy in the first place.
When neither of those expectations are met, many people have a crisis of faith brought on by bitterness over the situation. You may be surprised how many faithful church attendees believe in their deepest heart-of-hearts that God failed them and is no longer trustworthy. I know I've met plenty of people who have left the church for this very reason. For a time, I was one of those people.
Hebrews 12:15 begins with a very bold statement: "Lest anyone should fail of the grace of God..." How does one "fail the grace of God"? Easy, just get mad at God and walk away from Him. It happens all the time. I know the more pious among us would ask "How could anyone get mad at God in light of the gospel?" I say again, it happens all the time. People have expectations from a sovereign and loving God and when those expectations aren't met in the face of tragedy they have only one of two responses: draw closer to Him or run away.
To those who draw closer to Him the Bible teaches He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him (Hebrews 11:6). But, to those who leave Him, they enter into a place of bitterness and sorrow that becomes more difficult to escape from with each passing day. Again, I know whereof I speak.
As the holidays approach, I wish to use our airtime to speak to this problem of bitterness. What is the solution, you may ask? Well, it is much easier to say than it is to do and we'll be getting into more detailed discussion of it this Saturday at 5:30 pm...
But, for those who are trapped in the pit of despair, they need to understand why they are there and how to get out. The escape starts, as always, with true, unconditional forgiveness...which is the most difficult thing for a soul wracked with bitterness to do...
Stay tuned, true believers.
No comments:
Post a Comment