Proverbs 14:10 – The heart knoweth his own bitterness; and a stranger doth not intermeddle with his joy.

The joy of bitterness. You don’t normally think of it that way but without trials we would not seek the joy of Lord.  This verse kind of personifies the heart.  It gives it chacteristics and feeling.  The person of the heart can be conscious of its own bitterness and its own joy.  Since the heart can know both joy and bitterness, there has to be some joy in the midst of bitterness for the Christian.  There is a bitter after taste that sin leaves us with even after we washed in the blood.

We know our own frailty and failings.  We see that sin is ever present with us.  At the same time, there is joy in the Christian’s heart who does not try and battle this bitterness on their own.  There is a joy that victory over sin in our lives provides.  That victory comes through being confirmed to the image of Christ as we are transformed or changed little by little.  When you are truly saved, you can have joy in the midst of a bitter life of sin as Christ gives you more and more power over sin.

Trials and troubles often force us to the cross.  If we did not have some bitterness of sin in our lives, we would never seek victory in Christ.  The worse thing that could ever happen to you is for the Lord just to let you prosper in your sin.  We often think that if we get out of church or away from the Lord that the worse thing that coun happen is we lose a love one to some tragic accident or something else horrific.

Really the worst thing that could happen to you is the Lord just lets you live a prosperous life without any reference to Him.  In that prosperity you will have no joy because you will not have the restraining influence of reproof and rebuke from the Lord.  You will not have the bitterness to correct you.  You will not have the joy of bitterness.

You need to look at the bitterness in your life as the joy producing fuel.  The joy of bitterness will get you through.

 

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