Bitterness
The fourth consequence is somewhat prophesied in Proverbs 13:12:
“Hope deferred maketh the heart sick: but when the desire cometh, it is a tree of life.”
While the judgment of those you are bitter against will not bring a tree of life into your heart, the deferred hope of their judgment will make your heart sick, and you will eventually sink into depression just as Jonah did in Jonah 4:9, “And God said to Jonah, Doest thou well to be angry for the gourd? And he said, I do well to be angry, even unto death.”
Maybe you have thought the same thing concerning your bitterness: I do well to be angry until I die. Depression is rarely an organic physical problem or one that is unrelated to emotional issues. It is caused most often by sin. Here Jonah looks in the face of God and says in effect I will not get right. Be careful, there is a line you can cross with God. 1 John 5:16, “If any man see his brother sin a sin which is not unto death, he shall ask, and he shall give him life for them that sin not unto death. There is a sin unto death: I do not say that he shall pray for it.”
When you come to the place that you tell God you will not get right you are in danger of crossing a deadline with God. God is very long-suffering and gives us many opportunities to turn but there is a point in which He stops you from harming others. I praise God that He pulled me out of this mess before I came to this point, but I have met many who did not get right. They fell into depression; the world told them it was because they didn’t like themselves enough.
The truth is that many times it is the opposite: they liked themselves too much. They are many times prideful and do not believe that they deserve the treatment that they are receiving from others and God, thus they fall into depression. You can still be salvaged even if you have gotten this far. It is not yet too late for you to be restored to the truth. The answer is not drugs though, the answer is the Bible. In just a few minutes we will address a specific answer for you.
