OPINION —
Methodist preacher James W. Moore wrote more than 40 books that truck drivers, waitresses and custodians enjoyed reading. Some of his book titles will explain what I mean:
“If God is Your Co-Pilot, Then Swap Seats,” “If You Are Going the Wrong Way… Turn Around” and “God Was Here And I Was Out to Lunch.”
One of his best books was “You Can Get Bitter or Better.” Moore used funny stories to illustrate great principles, like the story of a man who lived in a house beside a river.
The man kept his prize hens in the light, airy cellar under his house. But rivers will rise, and that river flooded the man’s cellar and drowned his hens. So the man advised his landlord he was going to move.
“Why?” the landlord asked, “I thought you liked the house.”
“I do like the house,” the man replied, “but the river flooded the cellar and drowned my chickens.”
“Oh,” said the landlord, “don’t move because of that; why don’t you try raising ducks?”
Moore used that simple story as the springboard for this observation: “When disappointment comes, be resilient. Bend a little, and then bounce back. Don’t get bitter — get better.”
That is good theology — bend a little and bounce back. It is what Jesus meant when he said to his disciples: “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart. I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). When trouble comes, with the help of Jesus, we can bend a little and bounce back.
Grief numbs us. Rejection brings us to our knees. Cruel words generate anger in our hearts. How shall we respond? We can become resentful, cynical, hostile or hopeless. That’s the bitter choice.
We can choose to be a victim or we can ask for the grace to be a victor. We can wallow in disappointment or rise above our problems. We can live in the basement or we can walk out and grow up and live in the balcony.
It is not easy to choose to be better rather than bitter. We need help, spiritual help. Fortunately, that help is available. It was available to Saint Paul. When disappointment engulfed his soul because the Lord would not remove the thorn in his flesh, Paul refused to become bitter. He chose to become better because the Lord said to him, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”
When disappointment awakens a bitter spirit in us, we can find the help we need by saying what Paul said: “Therefore I will boast all the more about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power can rest on me” (2 Corinthians 12:9). God is ready when you are to let the power of Christ rest on you.
Write this down and stick it on your refrigerator:
“Bend a little, and then bounce back. Don’t get bitter — get better.”
