Hearts Hardening and Growing Cold

by Belinda Jabore

I saw an onslaught of small to medium meteorites coming at us this year and hitting us (the body of Christ).
On asking the Lord what this is, I believe He showed me that this year there was going to be much testing and trials and hearts hardening and growing cold towards the Lord and people. There will have to be a greater level of obedience to the Lord and dying to oneself and to the things we thought were going to happen. Some Apostles and Prophets have been through this already and are out the other side but it will come to the body of Christ this year in a larger scale and we will feel like we are getting bombarded with this stuff to distract us from our call and focus on the Lord. But the Lord wants us to be pre-warned about these things which will in fact bring us closer to Him.
These things that will come against our mind, our will, our heart and our emotions in the way of Disappointments; Bitterness; Resentment; Grief; Sorrow; Anxieties; Sickness; Depression; Feeling like we will loose our mind; Things not going the way we thought they would go; False and ungodly expectations towards others and the ones you hold closest (letting that go); Loved ones doing the wrong thing against you; Finances stretched to the max and little of them, (a glimpse of a Job experience) and the loss of friends and things we love more than the Lord. The intent if we let it, is to bring a hardening of our hearts and turning cold towards the Lord which allows in unbelief, bitterness, resentment and unforgiveness to reside in our hearts. We will say things like: “How could this have happened to me? Why is this happening to me and my family? Lord, what is going on?” We will feel like fainting and giving up but I want to encourage you not to give up and keep focused on the Lord. Running into Him and not away from Him and even though we feel we can’t feel Him or see Him through these things, be assured that He is at hand and with you in it.

Any of the things above that I have mentioned - take them, feel them, don’t just put on a ‘stiff upper lip’ and move on - examine them as to why they are there and your reaction to them. Separate the issue from the person and confess them to the Lord. Sort the issues out with Him. Refuse and repent of them if they do not line up with His heart and apply His promises and His Words to them. Say to Him, “I don’t know why this has happened Lord but I choose to trust and hope in You no
matter what.”

Philippians 4:4-14 I have had this scripture on me for at least 2 years now and in the tough times it got me through even when I thought I wouldn’t make it but you see the Lord guarded my heart and mind in Him, either I believe that He gave me that word or not. It is that simple but that complex. I would picture Jesus and the power of His Holy Spirit put His hand over my heart and mind when I felt like I was going to loose it. When I would panic about being sick or becoming anxious over an issue (the ‘what ifs’). I would picture Him there knowing He was there with me in it and through it. When things seemed hopeless He was my only hope. He was always faithful to me and would always rescue me from myself mostly. Unfortunately some of these things do not go away straight away but don’t be fearful of them. Jesus himself was acquainted with grief and sorrow and all these things that I have mentioned above (the ‘what ifs’) but He took them on the cross for us. He overcome them for us today! We know this in our head but is it in our heart? Even though we may feel weak and defeated and have failed. The truth is the Lord has not left us in the trials and testings as He will never leave us in our darkest hour or forsake us in our darkest hour. He is with us in and through the trials and testings and this will show what we are made of. In our weakness He is strong! He is in it with us and we must look for Him in it.

Weaknesses are then turned and they become an agent of strength in Him. Psalm 116:15 says Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints. So we will go through a greater dying to oneself daily further and further into Him, not letting anything or any one stop us. He will deliver us in due time. We will have a lot of deliverance this year too if we let Him. Things must drop off as well as anything that will hinder us from His presence. Then we will walk into our promised land that He has promised us if we are willing to die to anything that would keep us from Him and whatever these trials and testings throw at us. We must cry out in our hearts and say to our Lord Jesus, our Father and the Holy Spirit, “I can’t live if living is without you” as the Harry Nilsson song states and “I can’t do anything unless you are with me Lord” and humble ourselves under the Mighty hand of God. He resists the proud but gives grace to the humble.

Keep your eyes on Him and keep pressing forward to your call never giving up. If you do not know your call, keep on fixing your eyes and ears on Him and hang (belong) with the body of Christ that he has put you with, in relationship with, not forsaking the assembly of the saints. Be-long…….. Never give up! Lighten the load of life’s pressures if you have to and keep it simple. Whatever He has called you to, do not give up just because of people and circumstances that come around you and please don’t blame the Lord and turn your heart away from Him. One of the things to be aware of in the times ahead are getting bitter and being resentful in our hearts. Bitterness is a wormwood that the Bible speaks about that we are to be aware of. People and loved ones’ choices and circumstances may do things to you but people and loved ones can get us caught up in the bitterness and resentment of it all (if we let it). It might not be our fault but their choices will affect us if we let them. If someone does something wrong or not what you wanted, or how you would have liked it done to you - we then can become disappointed in the outcome and become bitter. Sometimes the other party can more easily move on and repent and forget about it and what they have done leaving us with the disappointment/bitterness of it all.

We must move on and not get left holding the ball of bitterness, resentment and unforgiveness which then pollutes us bringing in torment, self pity, harassment to our mind and lack of peace in our heart and mind. This then affects our relationship with that person and the Lord leaving our hearts cold. Did you know that our heart actually thinks! Selah. It’s a very big thinker, our heart, and the Bible says to guard our heart with all diligence for out of it flows the issues of life. The issues of life come through people and a lot of the time those closest to us. Bitterness comes from disappointments and expectations of someone or something, expectations we thought were going to happen. If we are truly with the Lord and work through it with Him this will not affect us. If it comes in we must give it to the Lord quickly over and over until we release it to Him fully.
Smith Wigglesworth said, ” One of the greatest mercies that you will have will be a revelation to your heart of how to get rid of yourself.” It would be wise for us to keep short accounts and be quick to have true repentance in our heart of the issues that can come through those closest to us, in our work place, with our husband, wife, children etc…. Let your gentleness be made known to all men and say the Lord is at hand. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to Him and move on, keeping in mind, some things take longer than others do, depending what it is but if we have the Lord there in it with us directing us we can’t loose. Remember it is a process he will deliver us in time - keep saying I know You are with me Lord even though I can’t feel You in it yet but by faith I know You are there. Trust in Him, Hope in Him and rely and believe He is there. When trials and testings come God will be judging some things to see what you are made of, then you will come out as gold and you will realise that things cannot touch you as they used to do.
You can do it in Him.