“And the LORD hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and he pursued after the children of Israel: and the children of Israel went out with an high hand.” (Exodus 14:8 KJV)
We read over and over again that the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart. Have you ever wondered how God did this? How, much like a good hockey fight, God had such a good hold on Pharaoh’s jersey that he could not get away as God fed him one hard hitting fist after another? There had to be something with more magic in it than pride as Pharaoh was being repeatedly humbled publicly. It had to be something so captivating that not only Pharaoh, but Pharaoh’s servants too ultimately encouraged him in the final chase to the Red sea. What is the one thing that will cause a person to reattempt control of a situation that they ought not have anything to do with? Is it not obvious? Could it be a quest for manageability? A desire deep within us that no matter how bad the situation gets, that no matter how low we have been drug through the muck, and no matter how painfully we have been beaten; we will reassess and reassert.
I have mentioned before that in loving God, we always begin with the heart and eventually convince the mind. Whereas in the world, you lead with your head and eventually believe with your heart. The part of the head that does an excellent job of defense in blocking for the heart is the constant desire to manage the situation. Whether it is to acquire more, defend what you have, or redeploy with the next best available options; it suffocates any potential belief from reaching the heart. A mind in disaster recovery mode almost never considers complete surrender. It rather may consider a managed surrender in the hopes of one day being able to reassess and reassert. What a sad state. How miserable a burden to carry in the hopes of one day obtaining a dominant position again. Never once letting loose to consider the lightness available in a yoke of forgiveness, genuine peace, and the patience of knowing that God has it covered. To admit our inherent inabilities and recognize the sufficiency of Jesus would completely wipe out not just our every sin, but every stake we have in our big game! Some people change out management every so often to change direction in the hope of recapitalizing. We have the option to hand over all management to one that is solid, never changes, and never needs to. Being about the Father’s business is very different from being about ours. Those who trust in Jesus find a mind full of answers and understanding that is beyond the questions that the manager’s mind could ever have asked. It is amazing the simple things that hold us back.
“And it was told the king of Egypt that the people fled: and the heart of Pharaoh and of his servants was turned against the people, and they said, Why have we done this, that we have let Israel go from serving us?” (Exodus 14:5 KJV)