The Lord says,
"In times of trouble and trials, do not allow your heart to be hardened. For I am still your God, and I am still the same yesterday, today, and forever. I will know how to work all things together for your good, even in ways you cannot understand yet. Hang on to Me, and look to Me, for I will know how to deliver you from even the deepest of troubles."Indeed, in this time of troubles and trials, do not allow your heart to be hardened. Keep looking to the Lord, and keep hanging on to Him! Though chaos, recession, virus, and disease may happen, the Lord wants to encourage you, people of God, that in a time like this, as the world gets darker and darker, the glory of the Lord will also shine brighter and brighter through you! (Isaiah 60:1-3)
So, no matter what happens around you, this is your time to receive a fresh anointing, and you will 'arise and shine'! Hallelujah! In fact, many of you are going to experience the greater glory of the Lord like never before!
But what is the key here?
Do not allow your heart to be hardened! In other words, no matter what happens in this world, and no matter what question you may have at the moment, for example, "Why does this happen to me?", or "Why does the Lord allow this to happen?", never allow your heart to be hardened! There is a reason why the Lord allows certain things to happen. In the end, the 'jigsaw puzzle' is going to be solved. Take heart, because the Lord will work all things together for your good.
From the Scripture, you can see there is a huge contrast between Pharaoh and King David. Pharaoh's heart was hardened further when the Lord dealt with him, whereas David's heart was softened when the Lord dealt with him!
For Pharaoh, the Lord used Moses and Aaron to tell him to 'let the people of Israel go'. But Pharaoh refused. Instead, his heart was hardened even more! (see Exodus 7:3, Exodus 7:14, Exodus 9:35) So, what does the word 'harden' mean here? In Hebrew, it is 'qashah', meaning 'to be tough, to be sore, to be stiff, to be fierce, to react negatively, to be defensive'. And the more the Lord told him to 'let the people of Israel go', the more his heart was hardened. It's clear here that Pharaoh refused to acknowledge the words of the Lord, and not until the tenth plague (when his firstborn died) that he gave in. You know what? Pharaoh stood to lose so much more in the end. Not only he lost his firstborn, he lost his entire mighty army (and chariots) who got drowned in the Red Sea!
In contrast, let's look at David now. Here, the Lord used a prophet named Nathan to deal with him, or rather, rebuke him for his sins. Prior to that, David had committed adultery with Bathsheba, and he even cunningly had Bathsheba's husband (Uriah) killed! That's when the Lord spoke to prophet Nathan to rebuke David (2 Samuel 12:1-12). Yes, a sin is a sin, and it's wrong of David to do such thing! But when Nathan came to rebuke him, David didn't 'qashah', or react negatively! I mean, he could have done so! After all, he's king! Instead of hardening his heart, David said, "I have sinned against the Lord..." (2 Samuel 12:13). Though he did suffer the consequence (the firstborn that he had with Bathsheba died), the next son born to him and Bathsheba was none other than Solomon! And Solomon means 'peace'! Another name for Solomon is 'Jedidiah', meaning 'beloved of God' or 'friend of God'! What a beautiful name!
See the contrast above? People of God, choose to be like David, a man after God's heart! David was a man whose heart is soft before the Lord! Yes, he may be imperfect in many ways (the same it is with anyone of us), but the 'shining light' is he was willing to allow the Lord to deal with him! This is what touches the Lord's heart the most! David didn't look back ever since, and he went on to become arguably the greatest king ever in Israel!
And herein lies the key to moving forward with greater anointing! Are you going to be like Pharaoh when the Lord deals with you? Or are you going to be like David when the Lord deals with you? People of God, choose to be like a David, not a Pharaoh! And you'll be sure to see greater days and greater glory of the Lord ahead of you. Amen!
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