Notice what happened here. The people just had a great experience, a victory. They’ve had 3 days with no water. It’s hard to walk in the desert with no water. They were thirsty. They suffered temporary lack. You see, God could see something they couldn’t see. God saw them come free, and God had planned the journey for them. God knew there were some sweet water, wells, and palm trees. God had already provided for them. It’s just they couldn’t see it. So when they experienced 3 days with no water, they became very distressed; and what was in their heart came up. The waters they drank were quite bitter, and so what did they do?
Difficulties are opportunities to grow. Notice what happened. It says: the people complained. They were bitter after years of slavery. So as soon as difficulty came, what was in their heart came up. God wanted to change their heart; but before you can change, you must see the need for change. Sometimes we experience some difficulties in life, and then an opportunity to see what is in our heart, an opportunity to grow and change. The people were bitter; they saw themselves as a victim. God wanted them to be healed; He wanted to release the bitterness they held.
When people come to know Jesus Christ, often they’ve had years of painful experiences, that have caused their heart to become bitter: Family experiences; broken marriages; broken relationships; disappointments. Now, if you ask a person: are you bitter? “Not me. Oh no. I go to church. I read the Bible. No, no, no. I wouldn’t be bitter. Why do you ask that?” So people can be bitter, and not be aware of it; but pressure and difficulties cause what’s in our heart to come up.
There are several ways you can recognise bitterness. The first one is seen here – complaining. If you hear someone complaining, they’re bitter. Do you know anyone that complains? “Oh, it’s that person next to you isn’t it? It’s not me! I would never complain.”
You notice the second thing they did is: they blamed. Bitter people want to blame someone. Bitter people are always looking for someone to blame. If I blame you, you are the reason that I’m so angry. You make me so angry! It’s all your fault, you know. It’s not my fault. Hello - it’s my anger! If you’re angry - it’s your anger. No one makes you angry - you get angry all by yourself!
You can tell when people are bitter - there are a number of evidences of bitterness. Let me just share with you what they are. You notice here, they complained against Moses. Let me share with you some of the evidence of bitterness. 1.) Complaining. 2.) Blaming others. 3.) Lack of joy.
Bitter people can’t laugh, you know. They’re very bitter and sour. It shows on their face. You look at the face, lots of frowns. Their lips, it looks like they’re sucking a lemon. As they get older, it gets worse. It shows on the face more. All that frowning, all that bitterness, lack of ability to laugh, to have joy.
Here’s another sign: a lack of gratitude. People who are bitter aren’t thankful. They focus on what they don’t have; rather than what they do have. A person who is free of bitterness, is thankful: “I’m so blessed. I have so many wonderful blessings.”
But these people couldn’t be joyful, and couldn’t be thankful. Instead of saying: “Oh, thank you for getting us out of Egypt. Thank You Jesus”; it was: “Hey, why no water? It’s all your fault. You led us here. How come you lead us here? I think you want to kill us. We should go back.” See - lack of gratitude. Here’s what happens: lack of gratitude; and often there’s judgements.
People who’re bitter make a lot of judgements. They’re very critical, finding fault. These are evidences of bitterness. Bitter people can’t enter and experience God’s blessing unless they deal with the bitterness.
Israel was bitter. Their bitterness caused them continued cycles of failure and defeat. When you’re bitter, you usually can’t see it, but the fruit shows up: blame; no joy, can’t celebrate; lack of gratitude; judging. Always wanting more; never satisfied.