When something is both sweet and bitter at the same time, and produces a mixture of pain and pleasure at the same time, we call it bittersweet.  A thirty-five year old man lost his mother to lung cancer, but just before she died she called him by his childhood nickname, told him she loved him, and then fell asleep.  It was the last thing she ever said to him, but she had not called him by that nickname in about thirty years. It was truly a bittersweet experience for him, one he has never forgotten.

        “Words from Above” in the Bible tell us about an unusual situation faced by the people of Israel who were traveling through the wilderness from Egypt to the land of Canaan.  After traveling for three days, the people were unable to find any water, but finally found some in a place called Marah.  Unfortunately, when the water was too bitter to drink, they complained to their leader Moses about it.  God showed Moses a tree that he was able to throw into the water to make the water sweet, and Moses then used this experience to put them to a test.

        Moses told the people that if they would listen diligently the voice of the Lord, do what was right in His sight, listen to His commandments, and keep all His statutes, God would bless them in a special way.  God made a promise to them that He would not inflict them with any of the diseases that He had brought upon the Egyptians before they left Egypt.  God brought those diseases upon the Egyptians to convince Pharaoh, king of Egypt, to let the people of Israel leave his land.  Pharaoh did not want the people to leave because he had been using them as slaves to build his huge projects.  God also made the promise that He would heal them when they needed to be healed, just like He had healed the bitter waters at Marah to make them sweet.  He then led the people to a place called Elim, where there were twelve wells of water and seventy palm trees, and God allowed them to camp there by the waters to refresh them.

        God still intervenes for His people today when they experience various types of bitterness in their lives, as we are told by the apostle Paul in Romans 8:28.  This is where he says, “We know all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.”  So, in order to fulfill His purpose, He will help us in our bitter moments to make them sweeter

Larry R. Steffee is pastor of the Center Hill Brethren In Christ Church on Miller Road in Smithville.  Everyone is welcome to attend.  For informa-tion, you may email lrsteffeetn@yahoo.com.

.