From His Heart

Dr. Jeff Schreve: Now there is a disease in our world. It’s been around since the dawn of civilization. It affects billions and billions of people, and it cannot be cured by a pill or by a potion or by some procedure. It’s a disease that gets into a person's heart and poisons everything in life.

Larry Nobles: You know, everyone will eventually face bitter things in life. And just like Naomi, who we hear about in the Book of Ruth, when she lost her husband and both of her sons, she held onto her hurt and became so bitter that she even changed her name to Mara, a name that meant bitterness.

In today's eye-opening lesson on From His Heart with Pastor Jeff Schreve, he'll share how we can all bring our bitterness to the Lord and find grace and restoration. The lesson is from Pastor Jeff's five-message series, *Life Goes On: How to Face a New Normal*. And that series, along with the companion book, *Life Interrupted*, are our two gifts of thanks to you for your support to From His Heart this month, and we so much appreciate it. You can find out more about these when you go to fromhisheart.org.

Now, open your Bible to the Book of Ruth, Chapter 1. Here's Pastor Jeff to begin this vital lesson about how to turn a life of bitterness into a life of beauty. The message: “Call Me Mara.”

Dr. Jeff Schreve: Bitterness is defined as anger and disappointment and resentment over a particular treatment that happened to you that you deemed was unfair.

I was doing a little research on bitterness, and someone described it this way. They said, "How can we best understand this emotion, this disease of bitterness?" They said, "We can best understand it in terms of the physical, because all of us have had something bitter in our mouths at some time or another."

You know, if you take a spoonful of vinegar, it tastes horrible. And people do that. People take apple cider vinegar, and they will take it. Normally they don't take it just straight. They mix it with something to try and mask the horrible taste.

I take apple cider vinegar in tablet form because if the tablets are too strong, I have to hold my nose to get them down because it's too awful to just take it and to have that sensation in your mouth. Well, this person said, "If you can imagine something bitter like that, some horrible medicine or some vinegar or kale, you know, something just bad, you have that in your mouth, and we just know, 'Oh, this is so awful.'"

Well, think of that as if it were an emotion, and it gets in your heart. The awfulness is there everywhere you go. Bitterness is that thing that's extremely sharp and stinging to the taste and exceedingly caustic and pungent.

Hey, here's a question for you. How are you doing with the disease that affects so many billions of people, with the disease known as bitterness?

We're in a series entitled *Life Goes On: How to Face a New Normal*. And today we want to look at the landmine of bitterness. And here's the brutal fact: If you step on the landmine of bitterness, life's not going to go on well for you. You're going to get stuck.

And you're not going to be able to experience life the way God wants you to live it and experience it. And you're going to lose out on joy and on peace and on your zest and excitement for living.

Now, the poster child in the Bible for bitterness is a woman whose name means pleasantness. Her name was Naomi, pleasantness, and she became Mara, bitterness. Her story is found in the Book of Ruth, the eighth book of the Old Testament.

I'll begin reading in Verse 1. Scripture says this: "Now it came about in the days when the judges governed." You know, we have a book of the Bible, Judges. Judges is the seventh book of the Bible. Judges takes place from 1350 to 1050 BC. "In the days of the judges," 300 years, it says, "that there was a famine in the land, and a certain man of Bethlehem in Judah went to sojourn in the land of Moab with his wife and his two sons."

"And the name of the man was Elimelech. That name means my God is king. And the name of the wife, Naomi, pleasantness, and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Chilion, Ephrathites of Bethlehem in Judah. Now they entered the land of Moab and remained there. Then Elimelech, Naomi's husband, died, and she was left with her two sons. And they took for themselves Moabite women as wives." They're not supposed to do that. "The name of the one was Orpah, and the name of the other, Ruth, and they lived there about 10 years."

"Then both Mahlon and Chilion also died, and the woman was bereft of her two children and her husband. Then she arose with her daughters-in-law that she might return from the land of Moab, for she heard in the land of Moab that the Lord had visited His people in giving them food. So she departed from the place where she was and her two daughters-in-law with her, and they went on their way to return to the land of Judah."

"And Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, 'Go, return each of you to her mother's house. May the Lord deal kindly with you as you have dealt with the dead and with me. May the Lord grant that you may find rest, each in the house of her husband.' Then she kissed them, and they lifted up their voices and wept. And they said to her, 'No, but we will surely remain with you to your people.' But Naomi said, 'Return, my daughters. Why should you go with me? Have I yet sons in my womb that they may be your husbands? Return, my daughters, go, for I am too old to have a husband. If I said, 'I have hope,' if I should even have a husband tonight and also bear sons, would you therefore wait until they were grown? Would you therefore refrain from marrying?'"

"No, my daughters, for it is harder for me than for you." Now watch this. "For the hand of the Lord has gone forth against me." "And they lifted up their voices and wept again, and Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clung to her. Then she said, 'Behold, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and her gods; return after your sister-in-law.'" But Ruth said, "Do not urge me to leave you or turn back from following you, for where you go, I will go, and where you lodge, I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God, my God." That's her prayer of faith right there.

Verse 17: "Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. Thus may the Lord do to me and worse, if anything but death parts you and me." "And when she saw that she was determined to go with her, she said no more to her. So they both went until they came to Bethlehem. And it came about when they had come to Bethlehem that all the city was stirred because of them, and the women said, 'Is this Naomi?'" Pleasantness?

"And she said to them, 'Do not call me Naomi; call me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me. I went out full with a husband and two boys, but the Lord has brought me back empty. Why do you call me Naomi, since the Lord has witnessed against me, and the Almighty, El Shaddai, has afflicted me?'"

The poster child for bitterness is Naomi. Pleasantness had become bitterness. "Call me Mara." Now we can learn a lot about this disease of bitterness from her life and from this story. And here's what I want you to do. I want you to be honest as we talk about this today. Because what I found is most people don't want to admit that they're bitter.

But the reality is they are. And so I want us to pray, as I've prayed through this message, "Search me, oh God," Psalm 139, "Search me, oh God, and know my heart. Try me and know my anxious thoughts, and see if there be any hurtful way in me and lead me in the way everlasting. Lord, if there is some bitterness in me, show me so that I can get it out and get it under the blood and get it washed white as snow."

Three truths from this chapter. And the question is this: Have your trials and disappointments made you bitter? Because Naomi had trials and disappointments and three funerals, and they made her bitter. Truth number one: Everyone will face bitter things in life. Everyone is going to face bitter things in life. Job 14:1, "Man, who is born of woman, is short-lived and full of trouble." Job 5:7, "Man is born for trouble as sparks fly upward." Everyone is going to face bitter things in life. There's no getting around it. It's inescapable. It's unavoidable. It's just part of the human existence.

Larry Nobles: We will continue exploring the origins of bitterness with Pastor Jeff when he returns in just a moment. Now this month for your gift of any amount to From His Heart, Pastor Jeff wants you to have his dynamic message series, *Life Goes On: How to Face a New Normal*. Today's message is one of five in that series. And when you make that gift to From His Heart this month for the series, we'll also send you his full-length book, *Life Interrupted*, both for your support this month.

In these two practical and timely resources, he shares biblical encouragement for those navigating unwanted change, grief, disappointment, and hardship. Whether you or someone you know is facing loss or illness or betrayal or financial pressure or whatever it is, God is faithful.

Please ask for the series *Life Goes On* and the book, *Life Interrupted*, when you make your gift today by calling 866-40-BIBLE. That's 866-40-BIBLE or go to fromhisheart.org. Your added support will help strengthen more believers and meet hurting people right where they are with the real truth of God's love. Thank you for your partnership. You are making an eternal difference. Now let's get back to conclude part one of the message, "Call Me Mara." Here again is Pastor Jeff.

Dr. Jeff Schreve: Now, how do the bitter things come? Well, sometimes they come about because they're self-inflicted wounds. They come because of faithlessness and sin. And that's what we see in the story of Naomi. It says in Verse 1 again, "Now it came about in the days when the judges governed, that there was a famine in the land, and a certain man of Bethlehem in Judah went to sojourn in the land of Moab with his wife and his two sons."

That's a terrible decision that he made. Bethlehem means "House of Bread." And there's a famine where? In Bethlehem, the House of Bread. No bread in the House of Bread. Well, he hears 30 miles away across the Jordan River in the land of Moab, "I think it's better for me there. There are better opportunities there. I can get a better farming job there, and there's food that we can put on the table." So he goes to Moab.

Moab's a terrible place. Moab's a horrible place. I mean, the Lord says twice in the Book of Psalms, "Moab is my washbowl. That's where I wash the dirt off my feet," God says, poetically speaking. I mean, it's my, that's my garbage can. Moab is an awful place. Moab had an awful beginning. The father of the Moabites was a man named Moab. Moab was the son of Lot and his daughter, his oldest daughter, the son of an incestuous relationship, Genesis Chapter 19. You can read about that.

Moab was just a terrible place. They worshiped the false god Chemosh. And Chemosh, the way you would worship Chemosh is you would offer your child as a sacrifice in the fire. Similar to the false god Molech. The name Chemosh means "destroyer." That was their god. So here is Elimelech, his name means "my God is king."

And my God is king takes pleasantness and their two boys, Mahlon and Chilion, says, "Let's go to Moab where they worship Chemosh, the destroyer god, where this place is cursed, where it's God's garbage can. Let's go move there." Terrible. Now, why are they doing that? Well, because there's not any, I'm just afraid. I don't think I can make it here. There's a famine in the land.

So isn't it interesting, trying to escape the famine, they run into three funerals in Moab. Trying to escape death, they hit death square in the face. And Elimelech dies, and Mahlon and Chilion die, and Naomi is bereft of her husband and her two sons.

Why did that happen? Well, they shouldn't have been in Moab in the first place. The scripture doesn't say why they died or how they died. But her situation, a lot of it had to do with her own sinful choices. And so, bitter things in life can come because you look, hey, you look honestly at the choices that you've made, and you say, "I brought this about. This is a self-inflicted wound."

When Jesus told the story of the prodigal son, he's at the pigsty, longing to eat the pig slop. Well, how did he get there? The choices that he made led him there. It was a self-inflicted wound. So sometimes they can come about just because of faithlessness and sin. Other times they can just come out of the blue.

I mean, you don't have to do anything. You're walking with God. Everything is good. You're seeking His face. You're walking in the light with Jesus, and out of the blue, wham, you get hit with something tremendously bitter.

Now, the poster child for that is Job. Job was an incredible guy. The Lord says, "There was no one like Job on the face of the whole earth." Job feared God, and Job walked with God. And Job Chapter 1, Verse 8, when the Lord was talking to Satan, He said to Satan, "Have you considered my servant Job, for there is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, fearing God and turning away from evil?"

Yet we know that Job experienced tremendously bitter things in his life because God let Satan get at Job, because God let down the hedge in Job's life. Job lost his wealth. He was a very wealthy man, lost his wealth just like that. He lost his 10 children just like that.

And then he loses his health and he loses his reputation and his face in the community, and all just came, bam, bam, bam, bam. And Job hadn't done anything. They can hit you out of the blue. So sometimes it's a self-inflicted wound that we get bitter things. Other times it's just it's totally outside of our control the bitter things come.

But now, remember this: None of these things can come without God's permission because God is over it all. God is the God who is sovereign. He is the God who is in charge. When the devil wanted to get at Job, the Lord let down the hedge.

And the Lord said to Satan, "Behold, all that he has is in your power. Only do not put forth your hand on him." He wasn't able to take Job's life. Satan couldn't do anything to Job unless God allowed it. And the devil can't do anything to you unless God allows it. And the bitter things that come into your life and my life, God has to allow them to come in. See, nothing comes into your life and my life that doesn't first filter through His fingers of love.

And even in rebellion, you leave Bethlehem and you're not going to trust in the Lord with all your heart and say, "God, I'm trusting you. You're going to provide for me here in Bethlehem because this is the promised land. This is where you want me to be." When you go to Moab, even in Moab, God is controlling everything that happens to you. And so we say that bitter things are a part of life. Everyone will face bitter things in life.

Truth number two: Everyone will have to face the temptation to get bitter. Just because you have bitter things doesn't mean you have to be bitter. But when the bitter things come, then comes with it the temptation to get bitter. Look at Verse 19, 20 and 21 again.

"So they both went, Naomi and Ruth, until they came to Bethlehem. And it came about when they had come to Bethlehem that all the city was stirred because of them. And the women said, 'Is this Naomi?'" Now, she's from Bethlehem. She grew up in Bethlehem. She's been gone for 10 years, but the people knew her. You know, Bethlehem is not a town of 5 million people. It's a small town, and so you grow up in a small town, people know who you are.

And so when she came back, it's like, "Hey, you look a little bit different. You look a little sour, but is this not Naomi? Is this not pleasantness?" "Do not call me Naomi; call me Mara. Call me bitterness, for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me. I went out full, but the Lord has brought me back empty. Why do you call me Naomi, since the Lord has witnessed? The Lord has testified against me, and the Almighty, El Shaddai, has afflicted me. He has brought harm to me."

She had become bitter. The bitter things had come into her. Now remember this: Bitter things are external. Bitterness is internal. Bitterness comes when you let the external bitter things get into your heart and make you bitter.

So, here is the evolution of bitterness. First of all, bitterness gets presented when we get hurt. Bitterness knocks at your door on the heels of hurt. Because you mark it down, every bitter person, and we've all met bitter people. There might be a bitter person sitting in your seat. Everyone has met a bitter person.

And every bitter person is a hurting person. You talk to a bitter person long enough, and they open up, and you're going to find out there's tremendous hurt there. So, how does bitterness begin? It begins with hurt. And it presents itself when we get hurt. Naomi is hurting.

I mean, hey, Naomi, why do you want to be called Mara? "Because I lost Elimelech, my husband, broke my heart. And then on the heels of losing Elimelech, I lost Mahlon, and then I lost Chilion." And you know, if you lose your whole family, I mean, bitterness is there at the door because the hurt is so acute and so huge.

I remember my pastor in college, Harold O'Chester. He was driving in a car with his pregnant wife and his two kids in the back seat. And they had a car accident, and I think, if I remember correctly, his steering column, something happened in that, and they hit head-on. He woke up in the hospital, hours later. His pastor was there and said, "Harold, I need to tell you something. Your wife, your two kids, and the baby, they're all gone."

Just like that. He lost his whole family. He was a seminary student. He lost his whole family. And the pastor said, "They're with Jesus." And he said, "I want to be with Jesus too. I don't want to keep living if I can't be with them."

The bitterness knocks at the door when we get hurt. Now, the flip side of the coin of hurt is anger. One coin, one side is hurt, the other side is anger. And when you get hurt, you're hurting for a while when you get punched in your emotions, and then that will turn to anger. And if you don't process the hurt and the anger, you're going to get resentful and bitter.

The scripture says in Ephesians 4, "Be angry, and yet do not sin. Do not let the sun go down on your anger, and do not give the devil an opportunity." So the hurt comes, and it's the devil knocking at your door. The bitterness of the devil knocking at your door. "Hey, let me in because you're hurting." Every bitter person is a hurting person. And then that's how it gets presented, and then it gets established when we hold onto the hurt.

Larry Nobles: We've heard today on From His Heart with Pastor Jeff Schreve just how bitterness makes its way into the heart. And when it does, many people deny their bitterness. They say, "I'm not bitter." But we know that they're not being honest with their pain. They think they can cover it up or it'll blow over.

Listen, if you know someone like that, or you're honest enough to say that's you, God sent you this message today. The word of God says in Psalm 62:8, "Trust in Him in all times, oh people. Pour out your heart before Him. God is a refuge for us."

And we learn how to put that verse and many others into faith action with two resources from Pastor Jeff this month, called *Life Goes On: How to Face a New Normal*. That's a five-message series, and the companion book, *Life Interrupted*. These special resources are our gift to you for your support this month. Call 866-40-BIBLE. That's 866-40-BIBLE or go online to fromhisheart.org, make your gift and request the series and the book.

Thank you so very much for being willing to navigate the abrupt changes in your life that can throw you off into an unexpected highway of bitterness. A new normal is on its way. God bless you. Well, that's all our time for today. I'm Larry Nobles. Thank you for being with us, and we hope that you'll be right back here on Monday for part two of "Call Me Mara." That's when Pastor Jeff Schreve will open up God's word and share real truth, real love, and real hope from His Heart.