From Bitterness to Joy (1 Samuel 1:1-2:11)

Intro- Baking chocolate instead of milk chocolate

The world around us has a general perception that if we are good people, life will be sweet, if we make poor choices, life gets bitter.

As the church, we do the same thing. Only instead of basing our goodness on worldly standards, we tend to base it on what will please God….please the Lord with who you are and what you do, and blessing will befall you- life will be sweet….choose to live your life contrary to God’s plan and life will turn bitter….

On the surface, this seems like a pretty fool proof strategy to get people to follow God’s commands….the problem arises when one who is striving to be faithful to the Lord encounters bitter season of life. A crisis ensues:

Have I been unfaithful, have I missed something God was calling me to, have I forgotten to confess something I did?

Who is God in the midst of bitter seasons? How should our understanding of that shift our response?

Background-