Joni Eareckson Tada: Sharing Hope

Shana: This is Shana on Joni Eareckson Tada: Sharing Hope. Joni and I always love hearing from you, our radio friends.

Joni Eareckson Tada: Yes, I do, really. It means so much to me personally that you tune in to hear me sharing every day. But it means even more when you take the time to jot me a line on my radio page. Sometimes you send me a favorite poem or you share an experience with a Bible verse. Often you write me with questions, like Renee, who responded to something I said. She wrote, "Joni, I listened to your testimony about your hospital experience with your pain and pneumonia. You talked about struggling with a root of bitterness. So if it's not too personal of a question, can I ask you, what was the root of bitterness inside you that you had to uproot? I would like to know more. Thanks, Renee."

I have an idea of what Renee is getting at. Obviously, people think that when you've got quadriplegia and you're in a wheelchair and you've got to deal with a bone fracture, and then on top of that, pneumonia, it's as if, "Hello, God, aren't you asking a bit much here? Aren't you being a bit heavy-handed?" Some Christians think that when problems pile on that high, they'll assume that when God loads on one too many hardships, it allows you to be bitter, with good reason.

You're justified in thinking that you deserve a little time off from obeying the Lord. You can't be blamed if you fly off the handle or get a little worldly for a while, or just kick back and push Bible study and prayer aside. After all, you're going through so many trials. And you quietly think to yourself, "I'll show God he doesn't have to be trusted if things get too tough. God owes me at least five good hours of bitterness this week."

Let me tell you how I answered Renee. I wrote, "Renee, thanks for contacting me after you listened to my story on the radio. And yes, there have been times in years past when I've struggled against bitterness. Bitterness is basically resentment against God, and it could be for anything. It's an anger that you coddle way down deep in your heart, and it becomes like a root. It can sink small fibers of discontent and doubt even deeper. And those anchor themselves into your heart.

When doubt and discontent become embedded in your heart, when your disposition becomes sour and you make a habit of not starting your day off with the Lord, then that bitterness is very difficult to uproot. This is why the Bible emphatically says in Hebrews 12, 'See to it that no one misses the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many.' That's right. Bitterness not only brings you trouble, it infects everyone around you."

I readily admit that in the beginning, I felt that my spinal cord injury gave me an excuse, a really good excuse, to be angry, to be bitter at God. I felt I was justified in my resentment against him and his plan. But a good friend warned against cultivating that root of bitterness, and I am so glad that I uprooted it and I confessed my resentment. And now, years later, I'm actually glad for his plan. And that's what I said to Renee.

I will ask you the same. Are you glad for God's plan in your life? I hope so, because friend, you don't want to fool around with bitterness. Do not allow those tiny little fibers of doubt and discontent to sink their ugly roots into your heart. Do not miss the grace of God. Take hold of it. It is the surest and the best way to safeguard yourself against a root of bitterness. And once that bitterness grows deep, it is so difficult to uproot.

Shana: Friend, don't miss the grace of God today. For more grace, visit us at joniradio.org. Remember, that's joniradio.org.