Letters to the Editor: Hezekiah’s Path to Unity

HEZEKIAH’S PATH TO UNITY

Hardness of the heart is fixed by being humble.

God responded to Solomon’s prayer of dedication in 2 Chronicles 7:12-16. In his prayer, Solomon listed all the ways Israel’s hard hearts would break their relationship with God. In God’s response, He said, If my people humble themselves, then I will restore them. God and Solomon realized Israel would only humble themselves when they finally got to their wit’s end. They could do nothing. All pride and hardness of heart had been removed, so they could humble themselves and turn to God. So it is with us. When we have tried everything, and there is nothing left to try, or we are so desperate that we will submit to anything, that’s when God can work. When the hardness of the heart is softened, we will turn to God in prayer, and God can do his best work.

Relationships break down because of our hardness of heart. But when, and only when, the hardness is forced to become humble (or voluntarily becomes humble), then when we pray, God can hear us and work with us and restore the relationship.

Robert Prins,
Pakuranga Ecclesia, NZ