I have noticed that sometimes when people have their hearts set a certain way and have become hardened due to that feeling and holding on to… the idea of softening hurts more than the hardening. Does that translate properly?
I have had a series of posts flowing through my mind these past couple of weeks and they have been stuck because there was a bubble incident – me being funny and bubbles being slippery and laptop being open that caused the laptop that was… well to be no more. I don’t need much but as a writer a laptop is something needed, I wasn’t expecting to make that change or even pause but I trust in God’s perfection of it all and am grateful that He made it possible for me to have the one laptop for so long and to have this new minimal one that I get to get to know now. He is so good! So… the one post that comes through for now is about hard hearts – have you had or do you still have a hard heart?
Have you ever noticed the talks about hardened hearts in the Bible? Has it ever meant anything to you or have you been given any deeper understanding on this? Do you even care? (haha)
Here is something that I have come to realize with this topic and I believe some might be able to recognize, feel understood and or maybe just maybe make some attempts at melting. A hard heart is one that holds on to hurts, a hard heart doesn’t forgive and a hard heart isn’t able to feel the subtleties of God. Every time we choose to stay hurt, hold on to a grudge, stay in the victim cycle or judge (just to name a few); we keep the heart from living when it is hard. But, here is something I realized recently. The thought of softening the hardness in anyway is so scary to most that it feel more secure to keep the heart hard.
The truth is that this is far from reality. When the heart is soft it is able to be held, supported and even molded in the heart of God – who is to be our whole heart and knows our hearts best. To melt the heart and to let Him in is one of the most dearest things we can do and gives Him the ability to work with us and bring us into who we are supposed to be. God cannot work with a hardened heart because it is dark and turned away from Him and it is far from His character and greatest desire to be with us. It is our hearts that He looks at most and it is our hearts that He wants turned to Him most – this only happens with a soft heart.
I know it hurts. I know that life has a lot to feel and experience. I know people are tough and it seems best to guard your heart or to hold on to the things that you think you know in order to prepare you better for another situation like that in the future… but, none of that actually helps you, in fact it keeps you down. There are several verses that come to mind in the Word that support all of this but, I think that this needs to be felt humanly because honestly you are not even able to fully feel and comprehend the Word when your heart is hard and it is the humanness that needs to be broken out of you in order to allow the godliness…
It’s not easy and can be painful in its own way to let go of the bars and open up… but, that is why we give thanks to Jesus and how He meets us where we are and helps us take those bricks out and to know that we are loved on our own and through the process. No greater love…
What is one thing, one person, one situation that you can forgive now? What is one edge that can be softened inside of you today?
Please do reach out if you need a prayer or a scripture to focus on. I believe we all deserve the opportunity to soften up a bit and let God in, I mean we are His creation after all. 🙂 Much love to all.
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