Not long ago, I tasted something that was very bitter, but I continued to chew and swallow it. The appropriate reaction would have been to spit it out, but I did not! Why not??!!
To the naked eye, this is not a big deal, but the fact that I did not automatically eject that which was unsavory is the small fox I am after! Allow me to share how this simple instance turned into a serious teach moment!
When it dawned upon me that the morsel in my mouth was vile, the Lord brought to my remembrance the verse, "Oh taste and see that the Lord is good..."! Before I fell asleep that night, I found Psalm 34 and verses 8 through 10 stood out by saying,
"O taste and see that the LORD is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him. O fear the LORD, ye his saints: for there is no want to them that fear him. The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger: but they that seek the LORD shall not want any good thing."
As I pondered on the scripture before me, it became vividly clear that my history led me to believe that I was born to feast on nothing more than heartbreak, labor and humiliation! The demonstration of such an erroneous belief was so ingrained into my existence that it settled into my way of life; my way of thinking and my way of expecting beneath my privilege! This troubles me, because when did I cut this unnatural agreement to trade sweetness for these years of ugliness as a seeming preferred comfort? Who knows? So, I will just file this under “Another folded attempt in Satan’s plan to steal, kill and destroy me” and deem it immaterial!!
The real revelation to the tasty side of this lesson is that the Lord said He has come to bring sweetness to my life and honey to my existence! He has witnessed the venom that has transpired and has elected to manifest a paradox of His manifold joys in exchange for my historical pain. The levels of joys prepared for me is divinely designed to wipe clean the hard drive of my memory; recalibrate the expectation of my senses and eliminate the divide between the starvation of my former days and the abundance of my original intent!!
Therefore, I consciously decide to nullify the terms of this contract and fall out of love with bitterness!! Just because the Lord prepares tables before me in the presence of my enemy, does not mean I am supposed to eat off their plates! I am ready to partake in my Heavenly Father's goodness with an enlarged mouth to ask with boldness; an enlarged heart to believe in His performance and with enlarged hands to receive until there is no more room!
Blessed am I for hungering after the fruits of God’s love and the nectars of heaven, for I shall be sweetly filled and will never hunger or thirst again!
Taste and see…