By: Gabriela Yareliz
Over time, we either become soft or hard, I was reminded as I studied scripture. Sometimes, scripture describes the heart as either hard or soft, or sometimes, it describes it as soil (for the plant lovers).
How can we tell where we fall on the texture scale? One might think it’s something invisible to the eye, but on the contrary, it pours out of us. I’d say it’s a mix of how we respond to something or someone greater than us (in this case, God, Himself) and the virtues we may (or may not) possess.
A hard heart is defined by a continual ignoring of God’s voice to the heart, pride, selfishness, the delusion of grandeur. While a soft heart is one that is humble enough to be molded and guided. A soft heart recognizes its place in the universe and its shortcomings in front of a perfect and holy God.
What is important to note is that both hard and soft hearts are spoken to by God in scripture, but only the soft-hearted accept the voice’s prodding and instruction. Only the good, soft soil allows the seed to take root and be planted. Our heart’s texture is our choice, from moment to moment.
We live in a world where people are desperately seeking guidance or some kind of affirmation, whether it’s from astrology and their sign, crystals and earthy elements, the moon, personality tests– we seek affirmation. An uncertain today and tomorrow scare the daylights out of us, and we are left in darkness. Strangely, we often seek affirmation from something within our own realm (something created like us or something created by us), but the idea of God speaking to us either threatens our illusion of control or seems unattractive to us for some reason. We often fail to realize it is the greatest privilege. Instead of reading a horoscope written by someone with your same anxieties, what if instead of some blanket statement that could apply to anyone or placing crystals in the reflected light provided to us in the dark by a created rock in the sky (it doesn’t even supply its own light)– maybe our anxieties would lessen if we remembered that the God of the unvierse speaks to us in our unique circumstances, individually. He has a message for you.
In the sweet and sacred moments of the mundane, will we be soft enough to be smoothed into something that can reflect holiness? The universe is loud with distractions; discern His soft voice in its midst.
GABRIELA YARELIZ 