Hebrews 3:12-15 ( NKJV )
Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God; but exhort one another daily, while it is called “Today,” lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. For we have become partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end,
while it is said: “Today, if you will hear His voice, Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.”
Yesterday we began to look at this scripture. I believe that we are near to entering a promised land of revival. I saw it in a vision in 1984 and God has often reminded me of His intention to move in a mighty way since then. Of course it is not just me. Most believers who I know are in tune with the Spirit have been feeling the same thing. Many prophetic words have come forth over the last 20 or so years predicting a wave of the Spirit that will begin in the east and sweep across the land. I believe we are in the day of fulfillment.
During the season the writer of Hebrews is referring to, Israel was also in a day of fulfillment. They had seen the mighty power of God deliver them from bondage. No power on earth could stop them from going into their land of promise. Yet when they came to the very edge of the possession, they would not go in. They could not trust God to do what he said he would do. Why not? This verse says they hardened their hearts.
I believe we are in the same position Israel was in. It is hard for us to enter our promised land because we have become a little hard in our hearts. For some this is a personal issue that is hindering their whole walk. However, I think the the church as a whole has gotten a little hard. In either case the causes and solutions are the same.
What causes hardness of heart? First of all the cause is not a onetime thing that happens and results in this hardness. It is the result of many decisions and responses over a period of time. Often they are not big things at the time, but they build up until we find that we have become less responsive to God. We are not believing the way we used to. We don’t expect good things the way we used to. We lack our spiritual edge. When God moves, we don’t really respond. All of which can keep us from our promised land.
Many times the cause of hardness of heart is disappointment. Everyone has been disappointed more than once. The bible says “hope deferred makes the heart sick.” (Prov. 13:12) Sometimes we have been believing for something for a long time and we have not seen the results. Sometimes we expect good things and bad things happen. The causes for this are many, but the one thing we need to understand is that God did not fail us. We may have failed, or there may just be factors we don’t understand but God does, but God did not fail us.
When these disappointments come we begin to subtly doubt things. We do not really doubt God is there or that he loves us. We doubt our own ability to believe. We begin to accept that life will never be more than what it is now. We begin to protect ourselves from further disappointment. A crust begins to form over our heart and our responses grow less and less over time.
It has been a long time since we have seen a major move of God, particularly here in the United States. I have heard so many prophecies that sometimes I want to say, “Thanks God but please no more words let’s see some action!” The problem of course is that God’s time frame involves one day being equal to a thousand years. What we think is delay is not. The same problem existed in Peter’s day.
2 Peter 3:8-9 ( NKJV )
But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.
God will do what he said, but he will not do it until the number of people who need to be saved is maximized. His timing is perfect. We need to be ready so that we can partake of the things He has for us. We need to stop being hard and become tender once again to the moving of God and to His promises. How? I believe there are a few things we need to do.
First, get back to the Word. Begin reading the Bible like it is true again. Faith comes from the Word of God. When we are weak in the Word we will become hard in our heart. Second we must forgive. Unforgiveness will cause us to become hard in our heart. To forgive we must be sure we have no root of bitterness. Finally we must repent of unbelief. Unbelief is a sin and the only real cure for it is to repent.
We will look at these things in more detail over the next three days, but for now let’s all look at our own hearts and see if there is any hardness. Don’t just assume there isn’t. If you don’t have the edge you used to, if faith seems hard or if you seem to be struggling with disappointment the chances are good that you are dealing with some hardening of the heart.
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