Swallowing the Whole Scroll: Embracing the Sweet and the Bitter
In life, there are times when God hands us things that are difficult to swallow. I remember choking on the reality that yes, I always wanted more children—but I wanted a husband too. We were a package deal. I was married, and my husband was about to leave me. I struggled to accept that once I was a mother before marriage, and now, I had two additional sons and was about to be a single mother again. This was not my fairytale. It wasn’t supposed to end like that.
I had invested so much—fighting for my family, for generations. How could my story end this way? One of my favorite stories in Scripture is when a mother brought her two sons to Jesus before His crucifixion. She asked Him if one could sit on His right and the other on His left in His kingdom. Jesus asked if they were willing to drink the cup He was about to drink. In my words, He was asking: were they willing to swallow the bitterness and suffer as He was about to suffer? Jesus was quick to let her know—they would drink from the cup, but the full weight of it was not theirs. We must be willing to swallow, even when life is bittersweet.
God has a prepared place for each of us. From the time of our births, we wrestle to understand our purpose. Along with that purpose comes a cup—blessings and suffering—that we must be willing to swallow. Ezekiel’s assignment illustrates this truth. In Ezekiel 3:1-4, God commanded him to eat the scroll:
“Son of man, eat that which you find; eat this roll, and go speak to the house of Israel… Then did I eat it; and it was in my mouth as honey for sweetness… Go, get thee unto the house of Israel, and speak with my words unto them.”
Notice how sweet the assignment began—like honey. Some of our experiences in life start sweet. The relationship you’ve been praying for begins full of hope. A business idea blossoms. A child finally comes after years of struggle. It is sweet. But sometimes, what began sweet turns bitter. A partner disappoints. The business becomes a burden. A child struggles with choices or pain.
We must be willing to swallow the whole scroll—to remain faithful to God’s assignment even when it becomes bitter. Ezekiel was warned that the people would be rebellious, that they would not listen, yet he had to obey. Assignments are rarely easy. Attacks and opposition are inevitable. But God strengthens us to withstand them.
By verse 14, what began sweet had become bitter:
“So the spirit lifted me up, and took me away, and I went in bitterness, in the heat of my spirit; but the hand of the Lord was strong upon me.”
Even when assignments feel bitter, God is with us. From the prophetic words spoken over me from age 18 to now at 52, many blessings were sweet to my soul, yet their fulfillment required swallowing bitter things. God wants us to know: to obey Him fully, we must swallow the whole scroll.
Our assignments may be both sweet and bitter, but if we hope to reign with Jesus, we must also be willing to suffer with Him. Be of good cheer. Jesus has already overcome the world. Like Ezekiel, we are called to warn the wicked—not for our glory, but so their blood is not on our hands. When we accept our assignment, eat the scroll, and obey, we save our own souls and fulfill God’s plan.