Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord. See to it that no one falls short of the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many. (Hebrews 12:14-15)

Two years ago, we started experiencing sewer back-ups in our basement. Not a pretty sight. Not a pleasing smell.

We turned to the City of St. Catharines for help. A crew came out, sent a camera down the sewer pipe and showed me a “live” shot of the problem.

Roots.

The tree that shaded one of the bedrooms from the direct heat of the sun had sent down roots that managed to penetrate the porous pipe. Now those roots were blocking the sewage from flowing out smoothly.

They were able to cut out enough of the roots to clear a way for the flow to resume. But they warned me that since they could not get them all, chances are they would be back for another call unless…

Unless we replaced the sewer pipe with one made of PVC so that roots could not penetrate and wreak havoc again. Of course, this could end up costing a minimum of $3000.

We took our chances on the $300 service call.

Sure enough, a few months later, the sewer backed up again. Same ungodly sight. Same ungodly smell. Same unhappy crew. Same unequivocal advice.

The time had come to move past periodic fixes to a permanent solution.

When we eventually excavated the area and found the sewer pipe and the connected weeping tile, I was shocked to see how big the roots had grown (see attached photograph).

Since they had an ample supply of water, they experienced prodigious growth to the point of taking over every bit of available space in the pipe. No wonder the sewage could not flow through!

The sight of the blocked pipe reminded me of the verse from Hebrews 12 in which we are warned about allowing any “bitter root” to grow up in our spirits.

I used to envision those roots as being much thinner and spread out all over the place.

The sight of the roots in the sewer pipe alerted me to a danger I had not considered before…that those roots don’t stay small in an environment that promotes their growth!

They can completely take over every bit of available space in our spirits and dominate our thoughts to the point that nothing can flow through.

Wow! What a frightening prospect, eh?

What begins as an angry thought or feeling starts growing into resentment and eventually turns into bitterness. It is at this stage that bitterness can so totally permeate us that we cannot see anything different. And we will not permit anything or anyone from entering that space, including the Holy Spirit 🙁

We too can opt for periodic fixes—a little prayer here and there, reading a book and repenting whenever the stink is too much to bear—but, friends, there is no substitute for removing the root entirely and protecting our spirits from any future penetration.

When Sulojana and I took a week of our lives to receive intense prayer ministry, it was amazing to see how Holy Spirit completely renewed us, so that there was no more of the bitter root left. He would also equip us with the means to prevent bitter roots from having a chance at growing by giving us a new covering, so to speak.

Dear DWOD, friend, a bitter root is one of the greatest obstacles to advancing into your destiny.  Would you ask Holy Spirit to show you if you have allowed this to happen…or if you are facing the imminent danger of allowing an angry thought or a resentful attitude to grow into a full-blown bitter root?

Would you then seek the help you need to allow Holy Spirit to remove it completely? If we can help you in this process, please send an e-mail to jeeva@destinywordoftheday.com or facebook message to Jeeva Edward Sam.