“Now when Ezra had prayed, and when he had confessed, weeping and casting himself down before the house of God, there assembled unto him out of Israel a very great congregation of men and women and children: for the people wept very sore.” (Ezra 10:1 KJV)
Chapter 9 of Ezra details a problem. It is a big problem. A problem big enough that Ezra (and a good many others) are not sure that it can be solved. A few noteworthy things. They come before God. They confess. They weep. Noticeably different than pull yourself up by your bootstraps, forget that anything ever occurred, and learn to roll with it. It is one thing to learn how to harden yourself. It is quite another to be able to receive healing. In fact, receiving the healing came after they made the excruciatingly difficult steps of having to roll back things that now affected their immediate family members. Hard? Yes! But not hardening. In fact, softening the heart and learning to obey was the only way they were able to get to the other side of the problem. Hard problems and hard experiences do not necessarily make a person hard or calloused. Hard and calloused kills a person. It’s the one who is soft enough to be obedient to God’s Word that makes it through what is hard and finds their rest in Him.
“Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28 KJV)