The Cure for Bitterness
They could not drink of the waters of Marah, for they were bitter; and the Lord showed him a tree, which when he had cast into the waters, the waters were made sweet.” — Exodus xv. 23 and 25.
“When he had cast a tree in the waters, the waters were made sweet.” It was a strange remedy. One would have thought it was a case for extraction, not addition. The burden of bitterness is a very heavy one. When it comes to us our first cry is, “Empty out the waters!” “No,” says the Divine voice, “instead of emptying them, put something more in them!” And truly the Divine voice is right. What we need for our bitterness is not the removal of things, but the seeing of them in a new relation. The Psalmist speaks of a tree planted by rivers of water. A. tree makes a great difference to our view of the water; it may change it from monotony into beauty; it adds a new fact to the old thing. So is it with my calamities; one added point of knowledge will chase them away. When the child is first going to school, it often sheds the waters of Marah. How will you cure these waters? By keeping him from school r God forbid! Show him the developed tree! Show him the fruit of knowledge! Show him that without school he will be a solitary man — mindless in a thinking world! The sight of the tree in the waters will make the waters sweet.
O Thou, whose suffering was sweetened by the sight of the redeeming tree, make Thine experience my own! I do not ask that the waters be assuaged on the face of my earth; I dare not ask that; but tell me that the waters are nourishing my tree! Send out Thy light and Thy truth; let them lead me! Show me it is impossible the cup should pass from me if I am to grow; put the tree in my waters! I do not ask any more than Newman, to see the distant scene; but I want to see something which is not distant — Thy will. I do not pray to know where the waters are going; but I do want to see where they are no Leaves for Quiet Hours.
coming from. I wish to feel that they are from Thee. Tell me that, and I am satisfied. They may rise up to the brim if they come from Thee. It is revelation, not emancipation, I need. Let the waters remain; but shine through them, shine across them, shine beneath them, O Lord! Show me Thy way in the sea! Reveal Thy path in the deep! Reflect Thy light in the waters! Put thy music in the rolling billows! Say, when the storm is walking through the waves, “It is I”! Then shall there be no bitterness in the taste of the brine; the waters will be sweet if they are shared by Thee,