My son dragged me into this. I didn’t want to make eye contact. It hurt. I kept trying, hoping to please him. However, I failed. Only he could transform two images into a single 3D image by crossing his eyes.
Once he mastered this technique, he moved on to video. There, a girl named Mara quickly flashed complex images on the screen, and in each one my son found one tiny thing wrong.
“There,” he said, eyes crossed to visually spot the error. He pointed out a small, one-inch error in mixing hundreds of M&M candies.
The following image appeared.
“I see what’s wrong here!” He would notice the rice-sized error on 99.9% of the page, which was absolutely fine.
The host, “Mara,” went through image after image, pointing out error after error.
And as she did, something struck me:
“Mara” in Hebrew means “Bitter”:
“She told them, ‘Don’t call me Naomi.’ Call me Mara; for the Almighty has dealt with me very bitterly. (Ruth 1:20)
Ahh… I saw something. “Maras” can’t help but find mistakes. Things people should have done. What’s wrong in a church? What a husband should do. What’s wrong with a person.
For what? Because bitter people don’t see the better side, they see through a bitter perspective.
Maras finds tiny problems in an image that is 99.9% correct.
My friends, I have sometimes been a Mara. Angry at people who didn’t understand me. Bitter towards those who didn’t do what was right. “Mara” to what should have been. Negative.
Indeed, in the book of Ruth, Naomi became bitter after her grief and loss, but my question today is: where could you be bitter? Where did you become critical and picky? Even in the name of religion. Is this the kind of person you want to be?
Looking at this, “Mara” selection mistakes online, I realized this is not where I want to be…
Ick. I’m done with this.
Bitter Maras constantly spots errors (flaws, criticisms, things going wrong, pessimistic ways), even in images that are 99.9% correct.
God’s way is not contrariety, it is faith, hope and love grounded in a mind that thinks of what is true, noble and right.
“Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable – if anything is excellent or praiseworthy – think about such things. » (Phil. 4:8 NIV)
So today, I abandon every bitter way of seeing for a better way of thinking. God is the best.
Life is too short to be bitter, when it’s love that never fails. Bitterness only makes me sour, love makes me never fail, when all my days are said and done.
And you? What might you need to leave behind today?
Prayer: Father, thank you for giving up the “bitter” for your “better” today. Forgive me for holding things against people, while you have held nothing against me, thanks to Jesus. Forgive me for thinking I’m entitled to more. I acted in pride. I demanded things. You sent your Son, so humbly, and through Him you gave me everything. I am so grateful. I am so grateful. Help me to see what I have, in You, through You, and to restore my honor. to you. In the Name of Jesus.
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