Good evening. Tonight we are going to take a look at another episode of The Waltons. Tonight’s episode will be episode 11 of the 3rd season, and it is titled, The Job.
Before we take a look at this episode, answer me one question: How would you define bitterness?
At this time, we are going to go ahead and watch about a 35 minute clip of The Waltons. Up to the point in the show where we pick up, John- Boy is in need of a little job in order to make some extra money. We pick up with him arriving for the interview.
So enjoy tonight’s show! (Play Movie Clip. Episode Eleven. Start at 4:00, and end at 41:16, at the start of their walk.)
Before we get started in discussion tonight, let’s begin with a word of prayer. Let’s Pray!
In this episode, Ruth, the blind girl, defiantly was very bitter from the very beginning. The mother even told John- Boy that there had been others, but that Ruth had driven them away. She was resentful and hostel toward everything. All she was accomplishing was that she was leaving a legacy of being bitter.
Even when Marry- Ellen tried to do something that would have meaning behind it, Ruth found some way of turning it into an insult. She was completely overcome with bitterness.
As you think about people that you know who are bitter, what is it that causes people to be bitter in the first place?
Well, tonight, we’re going to look at a man in the midst of bitterness. But Job somehow found meaning and purpose in his bitter suffering. Job’s poems were quite different. Although he expressed his bitterness, he also held out for hope in the Lord. Later, in Job 19:25-26 he says, “I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God.”
Now, tonight is going to be a little different from normal meetings. Tonight, I am just going to make mention of the book of Job and all that he went through with his bitterness. If we were to read it, we could read about 40 chapters of it in order to introduce the idea of suffering and bitterness. So if you want to read some scripture on what we discuss tonight, simply turn to Job, and start reading.
There’s an old saying, and I have used it before, that says “trails make you bitter or better.” When they make you bitter you continue to suffer and others continue to suffer. But when they make you better, you’re equipped to help others when they suffer. The question is: can you find purpose in everything God allows to happen.
As we move on, we are going to take a look at overcoming bitterness. And in order to overcome bitterness:
First, We Need To Understand That Bitterness Destroys Us.
We don’t have to look far to see how bitterness had destroyed Ruth’s life in this clip. She never went outside, she had given up on her life. We don’t have to look very far into the life of Job to see this either. After 7 days and 7 nights of silence, Job finally speaks in chapter Job chapter 3. The bitterness that Job was facing was destroying him.
How can bitterness destroy a person?
I think that one of the main things that happens is that bitterness keeps you from being able to move on with life. It causes you to keep the hurt and the pain inside of you, and it causes those around you to have to keep that hurt and that pain as well. We have to be able to get past the hurt and the pain and the bitterness in our lives in order to truly move on in life. So we learn that bitterness can destroy us if we allow it to.
Secondly, In Order To Overcome Bitterness, We Need To Adjust Our Expectations.
What do you think I mean by that?
Well, as we take a look at Ruth in this episode, she needed to change what she expected from life. Instead of being free and independent in life, she needed to realize that she would need the help of others. When a person suffers in life, and bitterness takes over, they have to be willing to change their expectations.
As you look at the life of Job, everything in his life was turned upside down. I’m sure that most of us will never go through anything even close to what Job had to endure. However, he did not allow his bitterness to get the best of him. He changed his expectations in life, and he moved on. Sure he mourned and he was bitter for a while, but he did not allow that to take root and destroy his life. It is okay to mourn when things happen in our lives, but it is not okay to allow that suffering and bitterness to remain in our lives and destroy them.
So we have to be willing to change or adjust our expectations.
Thirdly, We Need To Realize That We Need To Help Others Who Are In Need.
How can we help people who are bitter?
As we look at the episode of The Waltons, Mary- Ellen went to a great deal of work to find just the right thing to give to Ruth. In a way, she put herself in Ruth’s shoes in order to understand what she was going though. Then, she was willing, and she convinced John- Boy to be willing to help Ruth.
Sometimes, that is all it takes. Putting ourselves in their shoes and trying to think of something that they must need. Then we need to meet that need.
In the life of Job, he had 4 friends who where trying to help him. Sure, some of them didn’t do a very good job, but the 4th friend of his did a great job of steering Job onto the right course. When we see people who are suffering, or those who are bitter from something that they went through a long time ago in life, we need to be willing to try and help them. As Christians, not only is it the right thing to do, but it is also our responsibility to help those who are in need.
And Finally This Evening, We Need To Appeal To God For The Help We Need.
In this episode, Ruth didn’t go to God, but she did go to the one person who cared most for her. When she arrived at John- Boy’s home, she said that she was ready to get her life back. In Job’s life, he always tried to seek out God for His help. In the end of Job’s suffering, God actually speaks to Job.
When we suffer, and when we go through times of bitterness, we need to always go to God for the help that we need in order to move on in life. But as I say that, let me ask you this: what good does it do to go to God when we are bitter?
Well, hopefully this evening, we have all learned a lesson on bitterness. Before we close tonight, does anyone have anything that they would like to add?
Well, if there is nothing else, let me end with this. Notice that in the episode of The Waltons that when Ruth finally moved on in life, and she let go of the bitterness that she had stored up inside of her, things got much better for her. Things are always better when you are not bitter. In Job’s life, things got better for him as well. So remember that the next time that you begin to get bitter. The only way that things are going to get better, is if you throw away the bitterness.
Let’s Pray! |
