Root of Bitterness

by Kay Heitsch

Forgive right away before a root of bitterness can take root.

Several years ago, I was involved in a court case involving my neighbors. I won't go into all the details, but the wife had accused the husband of murder of their unborn child. When the facts came out, she had actually had an abortion in India.

It was a very emotional ordeal for several months, being played out in the newspaper to boot. Somehow, I was in the middle of the mess. The newspaper referred to me as "The neighbor," who was a witness for both sides.

I prayed and prayed about the situation. I didn't want to be in this, but I was. Of course, I had an idea of how it should work out.

However, it didn't turn out the way I thought it would. I was drained, upset, frustrated, exhausted, and started to get bitter. The bitter feeling was the worst. I could feel it actually growing. I became angry and even angry with God. Yep, I was mad at God!! Imagine that!

The bitterness kept growing, and I didn't stop in. Somehow I knew I should, but I felt justified in my anger.

One day I had enough of the bitterness and expressed to God my desire to let this go and move on with Him. I wish I could tell you it was better right then and there, but it wasn't. It was a process that took much longer than I thought it would.

I had to force myself to study the Bible and spend time with God. My desire to spend time with God was strong before this root of bitterness set in. Now I had to actually force myself. I remember going to church and sitting down. Before the service was over, I would get up and walk out. I took baby steps of forgiveness and moving on, but I did move forward with God's help.

I'm telling you this story, so if you ever get in a situation where you don't understand, and you need to forgive, just do it! Never allow the root of bitterness to start to take root. It's hard to uproot, but it can be done.

My mother-in-law said that when this situation was all over, both of these people would not like me. Well, that never happened. I'm still friends with both, they're divorced, and life went on.

Forgive right away, let go, and move forward with the Lord. You may not know why or ever understand, but that's okay. God does, and that's all that matters.