The Hardened Heart

                    "But when Pharaoh saw that there was relief, he hardened his
                            heart and did not heed them, as the LORD had said." 
                                                        ~Genesis 8:15


It's been an exciting journey for me to once again read through the Bible and have been reading through the book of Exodus at this time. Of course, in the earlier chapters of Exodus, we read through the story of Moses, Pharaoh, the ten plagues, the freeing for the children of Israel, and the parting of the Red Sea. But this time, I'd like to discuss Pharaoh's hardened heart and the hardened hearts in today's world.

First, Pharaoh would see the plague and then plead for Moses to take away plague. He'd promise to free the Israelite children; but each time, he would change his mind to keep them enslaved. Plague after plague terrorized the nation of Egypt, and each time there was relief from the plague, Pharaoh's heart became hardened. When we read the story, we may be amazed at Pharaoh's stubbornness. I mean, to see things from rivers turning into blood to locust destroying the crops from the land being covered with frogs to witnessing the first born of every Egyptian and beast killed. If we had been the Egyptian people, we might have tried to overthrow the crazy Pharaoh and let God's people go to worship Him before the rest of us were literally destroyed. Instead, in this time and now, we can learn from Pharaoh's mistake and avoid the tragic consequences.      

So what lesson can we learn from Pharaoh's mistake?


How often are we like Pharaoh? We promise God that we will serve Him if only He would take our pain and difficulties away, just to turn back to doing the things we had been involved in before the struggles started. We are no better than Pharaoh if we are "Foxhole Christians", we see that the problems we're facing aren't going away so we promise to obey Him...that is until the problem is gone. Then we have the tendency to turn back to the activities that are not God-focused.


The first plague, the water turning into blood, should have been enough to convince Pharaoh to let the people of Israel go, right? The water was literally undrinkable, the source that keeps the living alive is now contaminated and stinks throughout the land of Egypt. But Pharaoh promises to free the people if Moses will intercede. The second plague brings frogs into the land and they can be found in the entire land of Egypt. They are jumping into the houses, in the "kneading bowls" (Exodus 8:3), into the beds, into the kitchens... they're everywhere! Pharaoh calls for Moses and pleads him to intercede and then the children of Israel may go worship God. Well, we know he didn't keep his word. So God sent lice, flies, livestock disease, boils, hail, locusts, and darkness. Each time Pharaoh made a promise and later broke it. It became a vicious cycle! And then the ultimate plague struck the land. You could say it was the 'one that did it'. Not only was Pharaoh's son killed, but the firstborn child of every Egyptian servant and animal died that night as well. Only were the children of Israel saved from the deaths and plagues.

It's a clear sign that God protects His people as He promised He would. God is with you, too, in whatever you're going through. He heard the cries of the Israelites and He rescued them from their great oppression. God also hears your cries and He listens. But get this: He knows that you need to experience difficulties. Not because He doesn't care about you. But if you never went through trials, you wouldn't grow Spiritually and you wouldn't grow closer to Him. It's in the pains of this life that make us rely more and more on our dear Savior.


"But the LORD hardened the heart of Pharaoh and he did not heed them, just as the LORD had spoken to Moses". (Exodus 9:12)


Until the sixth plague--the boils--Pharaoh was hardening his own heart. As a documentary by Dr. Charles Stanley sums it up this way: "To this point in the story, Pharaoh had hardened his own heart. But now, God hardens his heart. Willful disobedience can reach a point of no return." If we continually harden our hearts, it becomes a habit we can't break on our own strength. Pharaoh hardened his heart so many times that it finally resulted in his death and the death of his armies. It certainly does have serious consequences, friends. Ask the Lord to remove the stubborn stone around your tender heart to break off and completely trust in God's plan.  


"But indeed for this purpose I have raised you up, that I may show My power in you, and that My name may be declared in all the earth." (Exodus 9:16)

We don't always understand the circumstances that God lets us go through or why He allows adversaries to stand in our way to give us grief like Pharaoh did to Moses and the people of Israel. But God is our powerful God and He sometimes raises up even our enemies in order to show the world His power. But He doesn't always just demonstrate His might to the unsaved, but He does so to remind His people that He is still in control. Sometimes because we can't see God, we can forget He is there and that He is still mighty. God gives us those reminders and we can give thanks to Him by remaining loyal to Him and having a "healthy heart".

In conclusion, we may come across many politicians, parents, friends, co-workers, and even preachers who have hardened their hearts to God and His Word. We need hearts that remain tender to the nudging God gives us when He is trying to tell us to listen. God listens to us, let's listen to Him.


Anna

Everlasting Arms

“What a fellowship, what a joy divine,
Leaning on the everlasting arms;What a blessedness, what a peace is mine,
Leaning on the everlasting arms.

“Oh how sweet to walk in this pilgrim way,
Leaning on the everlasting arms;
O how bright the path grows from day to day,
Leaning on the everlasting arms.

“What have I to dread, what have I to fear,
Leaning on the everlasting arms?  
I have blessed peace with my Lord so near, 
Leaning on the everlasting arms.

“Leaning, leaning,
Safe and secure from all alarms;
Leaning, leaning,
Leaning on the everlasting arms.”

In 1887, this simple yet powerful hymn was published by Elisha A. Hoffman and Anthony J. Showalter. Songs so old can still be sung today, because the meaning of their words are still relevant. 

I remember last April, I was looking up hymns that I could play for the prelude part of my church’s morning service. I stumbled upon a hymn that my church hadn't sung for awhile and thought it would be a great choice since it is a familiar song. I have to admit that I had developed a bad habit of picking out pieces for the service on Saturday night, or even Sunday morning. This never gives me a chance to practice, for one thing; but maybe more importantly, it doesn't give me any time to actually read the lyrics of the song I'm playing. But I want the congregation to not only hear the melody, but to listen to the words as well.  

We all have fears. Fears of losing someone, fears of heights, fears of failure, and maybe fears of not making it financially. One question every Christian needs to ask themselves is: "Am I leaning on Christ’s everlasting arms?" To be honest, I've always felt that I've handled all of my problems, all of my concerns, all of my burdens correctly by giving them to Christ.  But "do I leave those problems at the alter? or do I take them back?" Did I tell Jesus that I wouldn't worry about my problems and five minutes later find myself thinking about those same things again? These questions make us reflect on on how we've handled trials in the past and might make us wonder how we can handle them in the future.   

The third verse of this particular hymn really got to me the most: "What have I to dread, what have I to fear..?" When we think about how great our God is compared to not only our day-to-day problems but those unexpected difficulties that come around once in awhile, we see that God is much more powerful than all of the disastrous problems in the world combined!  If God determines who wins wars, if God cares for even the smallest sparrow, He certainly cares about our problems, our needs, and we should never be afraid when He is on our side. Because when we rely on His wisdom, then comes that “blessed peace” when we take our fears to Christ and rest in His arms.

As we read in the last few chapters in Genesis, we see Joseph's conflict of being sold into slavery by his brothers, falsely accused of a crime, and thrown into a prison. But after Pharaoh's disturbing dreams, Joseph was given a position over all the land of Egypt that equaled the power of Pharaoh himself. When Joseph was reunited with his brothers, he had compassion on them; realizing that without the trials, he wouldn't have been there in Egypt to save their lives. He said to them: 

"But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it this day, to save many people." ~Genesis 50:20


Though our trials don't look like they will have an incredible outcome, God wants us to remain positive and "lean in His everlasting arms"; because there is no difficulty that we experience in this life that God doesn't have a perfect ending for. 

“I have blessedness with my Lord so near,
Leaning on the everlasting arms.”

Blessings,
Anna