When faced with the pain of difficult parents, children, partners, pastors, in-laws, colleagues, or unwilling singleness or childlessness, we rage against the God who loves us and bargain about how things could have been different. We refuse to face the reality that we may be powerless to do anything, and that although we can't see how, meaningful and productive life can eventually go on. We don't like it when confronted with an inability to control. There are at least two kinds of anger - hot anger and cold anger. Often bitterness displays itself as freezing cold anger.
Hot anger is explosive and loud.
Those of you who have any experience of Pastoral ministry will know that people will shy away from admitting that they are bitter. Although Christians may admit to speeding, bitterness has to rank alongside sexual sin as one of those sins that touches others, but never the speaker. Sadly it may be as universal as the former and as destructive as the latter. You could argue that bitterness motivated Satan to attempt to destroy and thwart God s plans. You could argue that bitterness motivated the Pharisees to have Jesus put to death.