How Do I Make Lemonade From Lemons Like This?

The world says “when life hands you lemons, then make lemonade.” This all sounds good, but some of life’s lemons are so difficult that when you squeeze them, they just seem to squeeze you right back! So how do you make lemonade out of bitter lemons like that? How do you turn your hardships from sorrow into joy? How do you make the bitter times seem sweet? Moses and the children of Israel faced a similar dilemma. At one point they had no water, then when they finally found some it was bitter (poisonous), and they couldn’t even drink it. “And when they came to Marah, they could not drink of the waters of Marah, for they were bitter: therefore the name of it was called Marah. And the people murmured against Moses, saying, What shall we drink? And he cried unto the Lord; and the Lord shewed him a tree, which when he had cast into the waters, the waters were made sweet: there he made for them a statute and an ordinance, and there he proved them.” Exodus 15:23-25 God used a tree to fix their problem, and He used a tree to fix ours! Jesus Christ died on a tree for our sin. Cast your problems at the foot of His cross. Trust Him with your lemons today! 🍋First, you must realize that all the individual ingredients by themselves are not tasty or pleasurable. The ingredients are just components and not the finished product. But there is someone who can mix them all together to make something good and sweet come from the bitter and bad times of life. “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” Romans 8:28 🍋Then, you must make sure you are bringing ALL the ingredients to Him. Don’t even hold back on a single ingredient just because you don’t like the taste of it. Bring them all to Him! You cannot carry the load of your problems by yourself; you don’t even have to. He cares for you and desires to carry your load. “Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.” 1 Peter 5:7 🍋Finally, you must trust Him, by faith, while you wait upon Him to do His work in every situation. Waiting is never easy, but sometimes it takes time for all the ingredients to blend together. If you sample it too soon it may still taste bitter, when God is working to make it sweet. “He hath made every thing beautiful in his time: also he hath set the world in their heart, so that no man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end.” Ecclesiastes 3:11 Time belongs to God, and if you belong to Him, trust in Him with all your heart. He will work things out in His own time and way. “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.” Isaiah 55:8-9