As a child, did you readily obey your parents when they quietly told you to do something? Or did you tend to ignore the first command, not respond well to the quiet approach, or even not get serious about obedience until confronted with punishment?
As we get older, we don't necessarily change for the better. We can make our hearts even harder. Consequently, the Lord commands us not to harden our hearts (Ps 95:8). Yet if we insist on hardness of heart, then the Lord in His mercy will raise His voice, shake us up to wake us up, and "continue the punishment of the wicked up to the day of judgment" (2 Pt 2:9). The Lord is kind to the humble, but the arrogant and hard of heart require His sternness (1 Pt 5:5; Prv 3:34).
Are you creating a scenario in your life where the best thing the Lord can do for you is to permit tragedies to befall you? Are you insisting that the Lord pay you the wages of sin? (Rm 6:23) Are you almost asking the Lord to let you "hit rock bottom"? "Take with you words, and return to the Lord" (Hos 14:3). Let the Lord love you freely and turn away His wrath from you (Hos 14:5). "Let him who is wise understand these things; let him who is prudent know them" (Hos 14:10).
| PRAYER: | Father, may I quit being so stubborn. |
| PROMISE: | "When they hand you over, do not worry about what you will say or how you will say it. When the hour comes, you will be given what you are to say. You yourselves will not be the speakers; the Spirit of your Father will be speaking in you." –Mt 10:19-20 |
| PRAISE: | After his wife divorced him and his children married unbelievers, Donald rediscovered his Lord. Now he prays daily for them. |
Reprinted with permission from Presentation Ministries, a lay association of the Catholic Church that focuses on evangelization and discipleship through Bible teaching, daily Mass, the charisms of the Holy Spirit, and Small Christian Community. Their ministries include:
· One Bread, One Body
· Daily Bread Radio Program
· Annual Bible Institute
· Discipleship Retreats
· Guadalupe Bible College