The LORD said to Moses, “Pharaoh will not listen to you, so that My wonders may be multiplied in the land of Egypt.” Moses and Aaron did all these wonders before Pharaoh, but the LORD hardened his heart, and he would not let the Israelites go out of his land. Exodus 11:9-10 HCSB
In the second verse of this passage, it tells us that Moses and Aaron performed all these wonders or miracles before Pharaoh, but the LORD hardened his heart. It’s easy to read this and wonder why God would harden someone’s heart. You might look at this and say that it’s God’s fault that Pharaoh refused to let the Israelites go because God hardened his heart but, you have to know the whole story. You see, way back in Exodus 11 when Moses and Aaron first approached Pharaoh about letting the Israelites leave Egypt, Pharaoh refused. The Israelites had been slaves to the Egyptians for over 500 years. This was their workforce. Without the Israelites, they would have to do the work themselves. Why would he want to let these people go? Just because this is what God wanted? No way, what about what he wanted and what about what his people wanted? Pharaoh had all these things to consider.
When we are selfish, our hearts tend to harden. We become focused on ourselves and what we need. We are not focused on God and what He wants. We are doing things our way. That usually doesn’t work out so well for us in the end. Pharaoh’s hard heart eventually led to the demise of him and his men. God sent ten plagues on Egypt and each time Pharoah’s heart remained hardened. God gave him over to his evil ways (Romans 1:20-24). Pharaoh wanted to have a hard heart and God let him have it. When he and his men pursued the Israelites to the banks of the Red Sea, God opened the Red Sea and allowed the Israelites to walk through on dry ground. But when Pharaoh and his men went in after them, God closed the sea back and Pharaoh and all his men drowned (Exodus 14:28).
Our hearts are kind of like butter. They are no good to us when they are frozen and hard. I have worked with a lot of recipes that call for butter, but it always says that it needs to be softened or melted. Could you imagine mixing up a cake batter with a frozen stick of butter in it?
Have you examined your heart lately? It is cold and hard or is it soft and warm? We must be careful not to follow our hearts because we are told in Jeremiah 17:9 that the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it? In 1 Samuel 1:7, God sent Samuel to anoint a new king. He instructed Samuel to not look at his appearance or stature. David was God’s chosen king, but he was the youngest of Jesse’s sons. Samuel looked at the older boys who were bigger, but God told Samuel that Man does not see what the LORD sees, for man sees what is visible, but the LORD sees the heart.
Maybe your heart is hard because of life experiences. Maybe people have betrayed you and let you down. Maybe you consider a soft heart a weakness. Whatever your reason may be for having a hard heart, God’s not going to buy it. We can turn to Him to heal any previous hurts. We can trust in Him to always have our back. He will not overlook a hard heart.
If your heart is hard because you are trying to make some sort of impression on those around you, know that in the end there is only one person for you to impress and that’s Jesus Christ.
If you suffer from a hard heart, please know that it’s about as useless to you as a frozen stick of butter. It gets us nowhere and causes nothing but heartache. Over and over again in the Bible we are told to show Christ’s love. Ephesians 5:1 reminds us that we are to be imitators of Christ as dearly loved children. We can show love because we are loved. Verse 2 tells us that we are to walk in love as Jesus also loved us and gave Himself for us, a sacrificial and fragrant offering to God.
God didn’t harden Pharaoh’s heart in the beginning. Pharaoh did that himself. God allowed Pharaoh to keep his hard heart, but it ultimately destroyed him.
If your heart has hardened due to past hurts, let it go and turn to God. Focus on Him and ask Him to soften your heart. Pray for those who have hurt you. Trust in God to take care of everything for you. Let Him soften your heart so that you can replace anger and bitterness for peace and joy.
Have a great day!