The Key to Fighting Bitterness

Chris Brauns has written a helpful book on forgiveness: Unpacking Forgiveness: Biblical Answers for Complex Questions and Deep Wounds. (Crossway 2008, find it here). In it he deals with bitterness and how it can consume you when you've been hurt deeply. Hear his wise counsel on fighting bitterness:

If you feel yourself wrestling with bitterness, then focus more intently on our glorious God. Savor the providence of God. He is in control of all things. He is perfectly just and cannot be unjust. Bitterness begins when we have been treated unfairly. But if we believe that God will accomplish justice, and if we are simultaneously confident that God is working all things together for our good, if that is our center, then we will beat the stuffings out of bitterness every time.

We tend to say things like, "I truly believe that Jesus died for my sins" or "I do believe that God created the world" and with the same heart allow bitterness to overwhelm us. How are those two connected, you ask? Brauns continues:

Do you doubt that God--who is so commited to justice that he sent his only begotten Son to the cross--do you doubt that he will bring justice to its rightful fruition in the end? Do you have any question that God--who spoke all things into existence, numbers the hairs on your head, and determines the times set for you and the exact places where you live--do you have any question that this God will work all things together for your good?

Remember that God works all things out for his glory and our joy. "At your right hand are pleasures evermore."