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, He performed mighty miracles to set His people free. The Israelites stood in awe and praised God as He opened the Red Sea and defeated their enemies. Now they were on the way to the Promised Land! However, they had to go through the wilderness before they could reach this land of milk and honey. The journey through the wilderness was trying, and many started to complain about 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. Then they chose not to take God’s directives and do things their way; believing their way was better . Their unbelief shut them out from receiving His promises of finding rest in Him. In life’s school, we all have experiences in the spiritual wilderness, when circumstances seem all wrong and the promises we believe God for feel unattainable. Let us be determined not to harden our hearts while in our trial of faith, as we work through our negative feelings and release them to God. By holding fast and firmly to believing in a loving, benevolent God, we will receive by faith what He has promised us. Then we will be able to enter into the promised land of rest He has appropriated for all 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).