Moses
understood God's plans, but the Israelis did not.
Pharaoh
gathered his chariots and pursued the Israelis. The Israelis saw the
Egyptians were coming.
Wildly
they ask, "Were there not enough graves in Egypt? Moses, why have
you treat us like this?"
Why was counting on God so strenuous?
Their
irrational behavior, recognized as exaggeration, reflects fear.
Fear reveals limited faith. Their 'embellishments' came from weak,
inexperienced reasoning. Were these the early signs of a hard hearted
people??
Do
hard hearted people ignore faith-causing information or events?
Consider
these New Testament stories.
- Lazarus was joyously resurrected. But the Pharisees brushed off his resurrection, plotting to kill Jesus.
- So intent on obedience to their Sabbath laws, they ignored the healings of Jesus.
-
Jesus gave sight to a blind man (John 9). The religious leaders interrogated him. They belittled his intelligence. They said, "...but as for this man (referring to Jesus), we do not know where He is from.” Verse 30 adds, "The man answered and said to them,“Well, here is an amazing thing, that you do not know where He is from, and yet He opened my eyes. ...If this man were not from God, He could do nothing.”
What are
preventatives to hard-heartedness?
Here are a few
answers.
- Delight over the good luck (or blessings??) of friends.
- Determine if its God's blessing or the Devil's tool. Not all “blessings” are truly blessed.
- Thank God for every blessing. “Count your many blessings, name the one by one,” the song echos.
- Enjoy every event remembering it came from God.
- Ask God's help frequently.
- Acknowledge God's justice.
- Tell your family and friends what great things God has done for you.
- Study nature, and inspect His knowledge.
- Accept God-given joy from obedience.
- Before you decide God is not answering your prayer, look for alternate ways He may have already answered.
- Be guided by his way, and not your inferior wisdom..
- Ask him to build your faith.
- Be aware of God. Watch His doings. Find evidences of His working.
This really helped me to overcome a particular fear. I kept reminding myself of all the times the Lord has helped me through the bad, and it gave me confidence that a loving Father would help me through this challenge too.
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