The Holy Spirit wants to encourage us today in our spiritual journey on this earth by saying, If you will hear His voice, do not harden your hearts.
What does it mean to “harden your heart”? A hardened heart is a heart that has grown callous, unfeeling, uncaring, and insensitive toward God and others because of difficult trials or prolonged hardships.
When God brought the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt, He performed many mighty miracles to set His people free. The Israelites stood in awe and praised God as He opened the Red Sea and swallowed up their enemies. Now they were on the way to the Promised Land! However, they had to go trough the wilderness before they could reach this land of milk and honey.
The journey through the wilderness was trying, and many people started to complain about everything. They were tired of what they were eating, tired of the desert, tired of Moses, and tired of waiting on God. We can substitute the word angry for the word tired, because they were feeling extremely embittered and irritated about the long duration of their circumstances. Their previously grateful hearts had turned into constantly complaining hearts. Negativity had replaced their positive outlook for the future. In this numbed, angry, complaining state, they moved into the trenches of settled rebellion. They wanted things their way and didn’t care about or believe in God’s way. Then their unbelief shut them out from receiving His promises and rest.
In life’s school, we will all have experiences in the spiritual wilderness, when circumstances seem all wrong and the promises we believe God for feel unattainable. Remember that the path that sets us up for unbelief today is the same as it was for the children of Israel: hard, unfeeling hearts settle into rebellion or opposition and defiance toward God.
Let us be determined not to harden our hearts. Let us work through our negative feelings and release them to God. By holding fast and firmly to our belief in our loving, benevolent God, let us receive by faith what He has promised us. Then we will be able to enter into the rest He has for His children.
“Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says: Today if you will hear His voice, do not harden your hearts, as [happened] in the rebellion [of Israel] and their provocation and embitterment [of Me] in the day of testing in the wilderness” (Hebrews 3:7-8).
