When Mercy Leads to Hardness

Scripture:         But when Pharaoh saw that there was a respite, he hardened his heart and would not listen to them, as the Lord had said.  Exodus 8:15

Observation:    Pharaoh is reacting to the plagues God sent to convince him to free the Israelites from slavery.  This plague happened to be the unleashing of millions of frogs.  Pharaoh pleads with Moses to remove the frogs, and he will let the people go.  Moses prays, God relents, and the frogs are gone.  Once the immediacy of the threat has passed, Pharaoh’s heart goes hard again.

            How often is this pattern repeated in our lives?  In the middle of crisis, we pray, we repent, we promise.  When the crisis passes, we forget our words, or worse, we harden our hearts.  Until the next crisis, that is. 

            Like Pharaoh, we especially do this with sin.  When we sin, and we are staring down the barrel of consequences, we will say anything to find a little mercy.  But does this brush with discipline change us?  Do we come out of it closer to God, more ready to listen?  Or does the mercy of God lead us to hardness?

Application:    I can see this in my life during my times of prayer.  In the middle of it, God will point out some sin, or call me to some action.  I wholeheartedly agree, and genuinely repent.  But then I get up.  Then the day fills.  And the words are forgotten.  

Prayer:             God, I pray today that you help me see that a respite does not mean a release from obeying and listening to you.  Help me remember in the dark the things you tell me in the light with you.  Open my heart today to recall things we have talked about, that I might keep a soft heart towards your words.