Today the Holy Spirit wants to encourage us, while walking on our earthly spiritual journey by saying- during dry spiritual seasons, when you are waiting on me, and do not sense my presence, nor can you perceive My voice, do not harden your hearts against me.
What does it mean to “harden your heart”? A hardened heart is a heart that has grown spiritually disoriented, callous, numb, feeling disconnected, and insensitive towards God because of difficult trials or prolonged hardships. Maybe you’re weary and tired of waiting on God to fulfill certain promises, or maybe you are angry because life isn’t fair and doesn’t seem to be working out for you or the ones you love. Possibly, you are unconscionably disappointed in God because you feel like He did not care about the cries of your heart.
When God brought the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt, He performed many mighty signs and miracles to usher His people out of bondage, and bring them to freedom in the Promised Land. The Israelites stood in awe and praised God as He opened the Red Sea and swallowed up their enemies, and many more signs and wonders! Now they were on the way to the Promised Land! However, they had to go through a season in the wilderness testing before they could reach this promised land of milk and honey. Similar to the Israelites, when we come to know Jesus Christ as our Savior, He brings us out of spiritual death and bondage into new spiritual life, and freedom to walk in the Kingdom of God. As baby Christians we rejoice in our salvation and have faith in the power and promises of God! But it is inevitable that sooner or later, all God’s children will experience a wilderness season where our faith and belief in a loving, powerful God will be put on trial- feelings and circumstances vs. faith.
The Israelites journey through the wilderness was trying, and many started to complain about everything. The weakness of their flesh was taking a toll on their faith. They were tired of what they were eating, tired of living in the desert, tired of Moses’ leadership, 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. They got caught up in habitual negativity which kept them from seeing all the ways that God was still taking care of them. Their previous grateful hearts toward God had turned into constant complaining hearts! Negativity had taken control, and blinded them from seeing any positive outlooks for the future. In this numbed out, angry, complaining state they blindly moved into the trenches of settled rebellion. They wanted it their way, thought they knew a better way, and how to find relief from the pressure they were feeling. They hardened their hearts and turned away from God, while rejecting the good plans God had promised them for their destiny and future. Their ongoing rebellion against God set them up for unbelief towards God, and sent them traveling in the wilderness for forty more long years. Their unbelief had shut them out from receiving, and partaking of God’s promises and rest.
In life’s school we will all have seasons of traveling through a spiritual wilderness experience, when all seems wrong and the promises we believed God for feel unattainable. In this trying season, when feelings and faith are at war, we must learn from the Israelites example of the dangers of hardening our hearts against God and taking things in our own hands while believing my plan is the best and my timing is right will only lead us in circles, while delaying the promises of God and His gift of rest. Remember the path that sets us up for unbelief today is the same as it was for the children of Israel: hard, unfeeling hearts settled into rebellion or opposition and defiance towards God. We must turn back to our loving, merciful God, and pour out our prideful, negative, unbelieving hearts to Jesus. Lord Yahweh is big enough to take it all- He is big enough to bring us out of the wilderness, lift us up and lead us into overcoming faith, rest and the fulfillment of the promises of God!
So let us take heart during wilderness seasons when we feel uninspired, weary, unspiritual, and realize the spiritual dangers of hardening our hearts and turning away from trusting in God. Let’ humbly turn back to Jesus and allow the Holy Spirit to help us work through our depressed feelings and release them to God through prayer. Let’s choose faith and obedience over feelings and unbelief. By holding fast and firmly to our belief in an all wise, faithful, loving, benevolent God, we will be able to wait, believe, receive what He has promised, and by faith enter into His rest.
“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.
