Blessed not Bitter

I've been thinking about decisions lately.  The book I'm working on is consuming my every waking thoughts probably because I wish I had more time to work on it.  Much of the book is about the decisions some women made long ago, and decisions we must make today.  Every day we have to make choices.  Should I make coffee at home or buy some on the way to work?  Should I wear a blazer or a sweater?  Should I take a left to get to work, or should I go straight? Should I allow life to get to me or should I 'let it go.'  You know, 'it', when customers yell at you out of their personal frustrations, when people get offended over a molehill they decided to turn into a mountain because of their personal issues.  What about when your life just did not turn out the way you expected and people blame you.  Yes, even absolute strangers.  People are amazing.

Even so, bitterness will hurt us more than it will hurt anyone else.  We cannot allow bitterness to take root.  Bitterness does not add it takes away. Bitterness makes us sad, angry, grouchy, and pathetic; or should I say apathetic?  On the other hand, taking on an attitude of blessing sends a message to ourselves as well as others, that we will allow God to work in our lives.  Of course we will have our moments, we're human, but we have to make the decision to turn it around.  'It', the feelings of bitterness that try to rise up.
You know what I've noticed about the valleys of life, they make us stronger, and if we allow God to work in those valleys, He will make all our crooked ways straight.  He will right our wrongs, He will step into our lives and make things better than we could ever expect.  He will even walk with us through the valley.

"For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.  Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you.  And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart." Jeremiah 29:11-13. 

Like many Christians, Jeremiah 29:11 is one of my favorite Bible verses but most people forget about the verses before and after.  If you read verses 12 and 13 closely you will see that we have to seek God and we have to seek Him with all of our heart.  You know, I never noticed that last 'me', it's italicized, which typically means an emphasis.  That means to me that God is the only one, the only 'me', we should be seeking.  When we do this we will find that bitterness cannot stay in our hearts and minds very long.  We will have no choice but to decide to be blessed. 

Let's make the decision to be blessed not bitter.  Sometimes the decision is minute by minute, sometimes its day by day,  but make the decision and let God do the rest.