Don’t Harden Your Heart

There is something that stirs in my heart almost everyday.  It stirs because I see it everyday, all around me.  I see it more and more as these crazy days go by and God reminds me.. “Don’t harden your heart Shari.” 

What is it?  A hardened heart.  An angry heart.  A bitter heart.

Want to know something?  I could write volumes on each of those topics..hardness, anger, bitterness.  I’ll spare you the details.

I will tell you this..

There was a time that my heart was becoming truly hardened.  I was in a very difficult situation in my marriage and my heart was hardening little by little, day by day.  The part that was so sad is that I had worked so very hard not to have a hardened heart from my past abuse and alcoholic upbringing…I thought I was free.

But life happens and people are human, and nightmare’s sometimes do came true…

Although it’s been many years since my heart was like this, it always seems like yesterday.  God won’t let me forget the hardness and He will not let me escape from His heart and His very words…

“And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ – to the glory and praise of God.”  Phil. 1:17

God changes us forever doesn’t He?  When He speaks His living Word into our hearts.  It’s something supernatural, it’s something that we cannot understand in our own minds.  Most of all, it cannot be worked out in our own flesh.

I had been deeply hurt, but God was calling me to rise above my hurt. 

Could He be calling me to forgive and love?  Was this how my love would abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight?  No way!

But it was..

God calls his people to a deeper life.

“If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them.  And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do that. And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, expecting to be repaid in full.  But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.” Luke 6:32-36

The reason that I bring this all up is because everyday I see people getting more and more angry, frustrated, bitter.  I see road rage at innocent people, I see the news ranting and raging about politics, wars and rumors of wars.  I see it in the grocery lines.  I see people growing more and more impatient with human frailty and the bitterness gushes out…

Everyday God says “Shari, don’t be like that..don’t harden your heart”

You see, if we harden our heart toward others, we harden our hearts toward God.  Then we cannot hear His voice.  Ouch!

When God returns we want to be found pure and blameless don’t we?  Not perfect, just found pure and blameless because of what Christ has done for us. 

Keep your heart soft friends.

It’s an ugly life to be bitter, angry and hardened. 

No matter what others have done to you…bring it to the cross where healing can begin.

By the way..my response to the Lord when he showed me His will for my situation was to run at first.  But then I gave in and sought God…deeply.

10 years later He has blessed me, my marriage and my family in ways that I could never have imagined.  What if I had chosen to be bitter instead?

Count the cost my friend..

Bitterness will leave you more empty and lonely than you could ever imagine

but

God will leave you filled with unspeakable joy and peace that you could never imagine.

It is worth the risk.

Reminder….God is in control.  He see and He knows…

Everyday we have an opportunity to forgive don’t we?  Please don’t harden your heart…

Be Blessed Today! 34

 linking up with: Motivation Monday, Mommy Moments