Bitter or Better?

(A free sample chapter 22 from my devotional/book. If you like it, or feel someone you know would benefit in their season of challenge, you can purchase directly from this link.)

Good morning, friends. Round four of chemo is officially behind us. I say “us” because I really consider that you are on this journey with me, and I am so grateful for that reality. Much love from Becky and me to you.

This next week is the tough week where blood counts go down, and the discomfort goes up. It’s a process. I gotta be a good patient and do my part. Already starting to feel the effects of this previous round (no bueno) but believing all will pass quickly.

I've been reading through Philippians with a buddy and came across this passage in Philippians 4:4: “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!” Interesting verses to come across on this first day after chemo. Not the verse one would run to considering the circumstances but, alas, here it is.

Getting to the point quickly . . . I’ve lived life long enough to recognize God’s Word comes to us at just the right time and place. Our job is to faithfully position ourselves to come to him daily. There is a cooperative dance between us and God most days. Sometimes, it’s a fight. Sometimes, it’s not a fight. Still, how many of us believe He’s available as any loving Father should be? He’s willing to sit with us, talk with us, encourage and breathe life into us in our time of need. Are we willing to give him our “valuable” time?

With all that is going on in my life (and I’m sure, in your life), do you see value in spending just a few minutes with God, allowing him to infuse the fruit of his Spirit into your life, that is, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control?

Do you believe that only God is the source and supply of the better and best life available to you AND through you each day?

And so, I'm presented today with God’s marching orders for the day, even within rather uncertain physical circumstances. I didn’t choose this verse. It chose me today. I am called today to this spiritual challenge: “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!”

There is a choice that needs to be made. I can allow my circumstances to make me bitter or make me better. If left to my own strength, I am honestly convinced that I do not have enough in me to produce the “fruit” listed above. I’ve tried. I’ve failed. I know myself. I’m just not that good at it. Too much of me gets in the way.

However, when I truly surrender to God daily and breathe out my last effort, emptying myself of my will, there is an opportunity to breathe in new and fresh life from God that fills my life with his resources, his gifts, his fruit, his energy, and his sustenance. When I take the time to practice this time with God in meditation, prayer, and contemplation, I find myself being rejuvenated and “Rejoiced.” Joy is put back into me.

So there you go. That’s how I started my day today. Praying for the same power and peace over you in whatever you’re faced with. As I close this chapter up, let us consider this very blunt thought from Josh Shipp.

You either get bitter or you get better. It’s that simple. You either take what has been dealt to you and allow it to make you a better person, or you allow it to tear you down. The choices do not belong to fate, it belongs to you. Josh Shipp

Reflection. There is a choice that needs to be made. You can allow your circumstances to make you bitter or make you better. Choose today what your posture will be like. Ask God, who is near to you right now, to fill you up with all that you need today to be the better and best version of yourself, despite your physical circumstances.

Prayer. God, fill me up with what is up there. I need it down here. I want to be the better and best version of myself today, regardless of my physical setbacks. Amen.