Lasting Change and Hard Hearts

Hard times often bring change. That is when we realize what is really important, and often get rid of the things or habits that are not important or even harmful. Times like great depressions and wars often usher in this change for a people as a whole, bringing families together and back to God. The attacks of 9/11 are a stark representation. The kind of change and how long it lasts reveals a lot about the person. Unfortunately, the end of the hard times can also bring an end to the change.

 

Exodus 8:15 New American Standard Bible

But when Pharaoh saw that there was relief, he hardened his heart and did not listen to them, just as the Lord had said.

 

This phrase is repeated throughout the story of the plagues on Egypt. Once they became severe enough to affect the people, and be more than just displays of power, Pharaoh would agree to let the people go, but once the plague stopped he would change his mind. The change only lasted a brief time.

 

Exodus 12:29-32 New American Standard Bible

Now it came about at midnight that the Lord struck all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the firstborn of the captive who was in the dungeon, and all the firstborn of cattle. And Pharaoh got up in the night, he and all his servants and all the Egyptians, and there was a great cry in Egypt, for there was no home where there was not someone dead. Then he called for Moses and Aaron at night and said, “Rise up, get out from among my people, both you and the sons of Israel; and go, worship the Lord, as you have said. Take both your flocks and your herds, as you have said, and go, and bless me also.”

 

It was not until Pharaoh was broken that he finally relented, but even that change was not permanent. He changed his mind, but not his heart.

 

Exodus 14:5-7 New American Standard Bible 1995

When the king of Egypt was told that the people had fled, Pharaoh and his servants had a change of heart toward the people, and they said, “What is this we have done, that we have let Israel go from serving us?” So he made his chariot ready and took his people with him; and he took six hundred select chariots, and all the other chariots of Egypt with officers over all of them.

 

Hardship will bring a change of mind so that we stop doing what hurt us, or start doing something that will help, but unless it is a change of heart after a while or once the hard times end that change will also end. This is described as a hard heart.

 

Proverbs 28:14 New American Standard Bible 1995

How blessed is the man who fears always,
But he who hardens his heart will fall into calamity.

Mark 6:51-52 New American Standard Bible 1995

Then He got into the boat with them, and the wind stopped; and they were utterly astonished, for they had not gained any insight from the incident of the loaves, but their heart was hardened.

Ephesians 4:17-19 New American Standard Bible 1995

So this I say, and affirm together with the Lord, that you walk no longer just as the Gentiles also walk, in the futility of their mind, being darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart; and they, having become callous, have given themselves over to sensuality for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness.

 

A hard heart kept the disciples from understanding the miracles that Jesus performed, and thereby who He is. It is the cause of people walking in sin who know they should not. Many who call themselves Christians continue to do what they know the Bible says they shouldn’t. This has calloused their hearts so that they are hard and do not hear the conviction or guidance of the Holy Spirit, and it will lead them into further sin and away from God. (Some would say this causes them to leave their faith, others that it is proof they were never saved at all. Either way, the end result is the same.) When they are first convicted of their need for a Savior, they change for a little while, but after a while when the fear or passions fade they go back to their old way of life. The change is not permanent because it doesn’t reach their hearts. It also reveals that what they changed for is not as valuable as what they left. Whether it is trying to be a better person, or promising someone they will change, if it doesn’t last long it is proof that they care more about themselves.

 

Ephesians 4:20-24 New American Standard Bible 1995

But you did not learn Christ in this way, if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught in Him, just as truth is in Jesus, that, in reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit, and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.

 

We should not have hard hearts. As believers we can’t have hard hearts and be truly saved. With the Holy Spirit in our hearts, we should be soft and teachable, continually being renewed and molded into the likeness of Christ. We are supposed to put off the old ways and life styles. This does not mean that we never sin, but that we are grieved when we do sin and seek to change. If conviction of sin is not painful, if it causes no remorse, then we should seriously consider the state of our souls because it may reveal a hard heart that is not truly saved. We should seek change and not shun or resent it.

 

How long does change last in your life? Do you make a change only to go back to the old way after a few days or weeks? How do you feel and respond when convicted by sin? Is your heart soft to the Spirit’s voice and work, or is it hard? These are important questions to ask and use to examine your heart. We cannot afford to assume that we are what we should be.