bittersweet
What’s bitter in your life, that tastes sweet because you're hungry?
“A person who is full refuses honey, but even bitter food tastes sweet to the hungry.”
(Proverbs 27:7 NLT)
This verse (27:7), stood out to me instantly as I read chapter 27 for a bible study last week. It can be interpreted as lacking gratitude when we are “full” compared to when we’re hungry, but I personally resonated with it a little differently. For me this “hunger”, was beyond the basic need for food and instead a metaphor of all the times I’ve longed for something that perhaps wasn’t godly or aligned with God’s will, yet convinced myself otherwise. For desperation, disobedience or impatience can make even the worst of things start to seem “good” or “not that bad”.
As you read later in Proverbs 27:20, “just as death and destruction are never satisfied,
so human desire is never satisfied” (NLT). Matthew gives us a solution to this saying, “God blesses those who hunger and thirst for justice, for they will be satisfied” (5:6 NLT). It is only when we do what is pleasing in God’s eyes that we are able to be spiritually filled and taste real sweetness. The Bible gives multiple examples of people being granted their wishes yet still not being satisfied, I mean the book of Ecclesiastes in itself is testament to this.
Christ was the perfect representation of how to deal with hunger in the wilderness, for 40 days and nights he starved and was tempted, but by relying on His Father’s Word instead of His fleshly needs, He overcame. This is why we are encouraged to fast as Christians whether from food, material things or personal pleasures etc., as it conditions us to deny our flesh and focus on craving the word of God and righteous living instead. In Job 23:12 we read, “I have not departed from the commands of his lips; I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my daily bread” (NIV). This was a man stripped of everything, yet he still craved the Word of God above all else, he hungered for nothing more. How much sweeter would temptation of tasted to both Jesus and Job in their hardship, if they weren’t already “full” spiritually?
The truth is, when we are not feeding our spirit as much as we do our stomach, we will never truly be satisfied and have the discernment for what is truly bitter. Isaiah 5:20 states,“what sorrow for those who say that evil is good and good is evil, that dark is light and light is dark, that bitter is sweet and sweet is bitter.” This can look different to all of us when we assess our own situations, but is not limited to that partner that isn’t so good for you, that addiction or vice, that group of people you surround yourself with, the self indulgence and pleasure you part take in…
Are these things really sweet, or have you convinced yourself that the lemons life gave you taste like honey?
What are you listening to?
This week’s addition to your gospel playlist is my favourite cover of ‘So Will I’, by Lloyiso. I hope it warms your heart and gives you a deep reverence for God like it does for me every time I hear it, until next time!
