Bill Elliff
December 2017
Healing The Harbored Hurts Of Your Heart
Bill Elliff
keep you blinded to the presence of bitterness, however small and harmless it may seem, he has an open door.
Would you, before the Lord, keep a humble heart and mind as you read on? If you have been hurt at some point in your life, would you be honest enough to pause and sincerely pray... Lord, if there is any bitterness in my heart, would You reveal it to me today?
Stockpiling hurts in our heart brings about the development of bitterness. Like a poisonous vine, bitterness can wrap itself around our emotions, penetrate our thoughts, and choke the life from our soul. Bitterness robs us of joy and peace. It hijacks us; taking us places we never wanted to go, doing things we never wanted to do, and making us people we never wanted to be.
Bitterness is subtle. I have rarely met a bitter man who realized his condition. No one wants to think of himself in this way. The very word“ bitter” sounds appalling to our ears. It is a label none of us wants; yet by my own experience, I can tell you that many more of us are bitter than care to admit it. Passing through a bitter season in my life, I was oblivious to my condition. All the while I counseled people who were bitter, and even preached about bitterness. I could recognize it in others, but not in myself.
Sometimes bitterness is misdiagnosed because there has been no massive tragedy or great pain. We erroneously think that only those who have been gravely hurt become bitter. In reality, the smallest particle of harbored hurt carries deadly potency, just as one cancer cell has the potential to fell the strongest of men. Are you also willing to look with indifference to the hurts of your heart? If Satan can
Although we often cannot see bitterness in ourselves, its effects disclose its presence to others. The writer of Hebrews uncovers for us three of the most damaging results of bitterness:“ See to it that no one comes short of the grace of God; that no root of bitterness springing up causes trouble, and by it many be defiled...”( Heb 12:15).
Bitterness Always Springs Up
Even if we are aware of some hurt brewing inside us and intentionally try to hold it in check, it will find a way to seep through our soul. Hurts have a life of their own; and true to their nature, will always break through the surface and manifest themselves in some form.
Several years ago a friend volunteered to mow my lawn while I was out of town. Before leaving, I forgot to mention to him that I had been nurturing a tiny sapling in our yard. When I returned, I discovered that he had accidentally stripped its tender bark with a power trimmer. The sapling appeared to be so badly damaged that I simply mowed it down. However, throughout the rest of the summer small sprouts continued to break through the soil. Even though I had cut away everything I could see above the ground, there was still life in its root system. The sapling kept trying to grow.
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