Madness and sanity

The madness of a hard heart

We like to think of ourselves as rational people. We want to be those who weigh up the facts and come to an unbiased conclusion. If someone won’t change their mind even when presented with evidence, they seem irrational or even mad.

We saw this madness in Pharaoh’s response to the first three plagues in Exodus 7:8-8:19.

YHWH performed miracle after miracle through Moses and Aaron, showing himself to be the one true God. First He turned the Nile into blood, then came frogs, and third gnats.

Despite having front row seats to see YHWH in action, Pharaoh refused to change his mind.

But it’s the reason he refused that is striking: the hardness of his heart, mentioned 6 times!

Despite the evidence, he closed his mind ever tighter and refused to budge.

A hard heart is a mad heart.

The way to sanity

Like Pharaoh, maybe you also feel yourself hardening towards God. Perhaps you’re not as keen as you used to be: you’re slower to pray or to repent, quicker to become angry, you find it easier to rationalise sin, the Lord Jesus doesn’t stir your affections like he used to. Cry to God for mercy and plead with Him to soften your heart.

A soft heart is a sane heart – it accepts the evidence and accepts Jesus.