Bitter Lemons Don't Give Better Lives

“So David and his men wept aloud until they had no strength left to weep. … David was distressed because the men were talking of stoning him; each one was bitter in spirit because of his sons and daughters. But David found strength in the Lord his God” 1 Samuel 30:3-4

A man after His own heart…and still, so depressed and sorrowful he cried until he had no strength left to cry.

We can see from this that even being as special to God as David was…he wasn’t free from the ‘lemons’ of this world.

And let’s be real–these were major lemons. Everything they had and loved had been destroyed by fire and his wives and family and his men’s wives and family had been taken captive. They stood at the intersection of ‘bitter’ and ‘better’.
It’s hard to choose better in light of some things. What could be ‘better’ when your whole world feels upside down?
And frankly, many of David’s men weren’t interested in better. They were heartbroken and bereft and bitter was easy.
See, that’s the thing. When life seems like it’s handing lemon after lemon, bitter is too easy. It’s the human in us. We feel like things should be different and are angry that they aren’t.

But better…better means you have to make a choice. Better means you take your brokenness and your frustration and your anger to the One who bore it all on the cross and you let Him soothe your wounds and give your weary heart rest. In fact, He asks us to do just that…to bring the lemons of our lives and our hard to Him and let Him be near our broken hearts. He promises to renew our strength and that joy will come in the morning.

When life gives you ‘lemons’ of any size, giving our heartache and our frustration and our desire for better to Jesus is how we can ‘make it better.’ It won’t always change the situation, but it does give us power. The power to choose joy in all things and to allow our Heavenly Father to draw near. Definitely the ‘better’ choice!

By: Lori Ennis