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October 08, 2024
When God Hardens the Heart
March 06, 2018
The LORD said to Moses, "When you go back to Egypt see that you perform before Pharaoh all the wonders which I have put in your power; but I will harden his heart so that he will not let the people go. -Exodus 4:21
It’s unthinkable for God, Who is Love, to make somebody’s heart so hard they can’t respond to Him. Then what’s this business with Pharaoh? The Egyptian ruler has a heart that melts one minute and freezes the next. Plagues come, and he softens. “Okay,” he says, “they can go.” But before they can pack their mules, he changes his mind. Finally, God Himself hardens Pharaoh’s heart.
Think of it like this. Place a chunk of clay and an ice cube under a broiling sun. The clay hardens, but the ice melts. Nothing has changed about the sun. Its heat is constant. What’s different is the objects. The sun is the same to both. The difference is in their responsiveness.
God ultimately gives us what our heart really wants. For the heart that has hardened itself toward Him, God finally gives it the insensitivity to Him it has craved. This is judgment, the principle in Romans 1:24, “God gave them over…” But for the heart that has yearned for Him, He gives Himself. This is blessing. It’s not God Who changes or makes our hearts unresponsive, but our own choices.
TODAY’S FOCUS
Pray for the Lord to keep your heart soft and pliable toward Him.
Think of it like this. Place a chunk of clay and an ice cube under a broiling sun. The clay hardens, but the ice melts. Nothing has changed about the sun. Its heat is constant. What’s different is the objects. The sun is the same to both. The difference is in their responsiveness.
God ultimately gives us what our heart really wants. For the heart that has hardened itself toward Him, God finally gives it the insensitivity to Him it has craved. This is judgment, the principle in Romans 1:24, “God gave them over…” But for the heart that has yearned for Him, He gives Himself. This is blessing. It’s not God Who changes or makes our hearts unresponsive, but our own choices.
TODAY’S FOCUS
Pray for the Lord to keep your heart soft and pliable toward Him.
