Do Not Harden Your Heart...Whatever
Today in my quiet time , I read this not for the first time, but anew. Psalm 95: 7-11, and landed for a while on the end of 7 and verse 8-
"Today if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in Meribah, and as you did at Massah in the desert,"
Looking a little deeper at what God is saying, the application is for us as well as the Israel in the day of King David. The warning is strong. Meribah, meaning "quarreling time", and Massah, meaning "a time of testing". We all know what that is - quarreling and testing times...
In these times we need and want to hear HIS voice and direction, but in our humanness we tend to quarrel with those around us, become edgy, and even angry with God in our testing times. (which are there and will be there to help us grow spiritually). I know that in these times the last thing we want to do is refocus on the things of Philippians 4:8. But it works!
I love that even in our worst states of mind, God has given us a window to rise above. We need to seriously take the time to consider and choose the way HE has given us. So many times we grumble, "why is this happening?", "God has abandoned me" "my prayers bounce of the ceiling", "I don't feel like reading the WORD because I am going through a hard time, and I just can't", "The storm just continues to rage, and there is no peace in it"... God has given us a window, a crossroad of sorts.
"DO NOT harden your hearts..." Psalm 95:8
"... Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable,--if anything is excellent of praiseworthy--think about such things." Philippians 4: 8
It may not be the door you are looking for or the direction you are looking for, but God has given you a window, and sometimes we will not see the answers we are searching for, until we are sure we are not hard of heart, and we have followed the instructions of "Whatever"
