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Day 37 – A Hardened Heart Is a Withered Heart
Some of you may feel a little uneasy when following this retreat, and may think that you are not as bad as described in the contents of the retreat. “I am not that stubborn, not that proud, not that shameless, not treating God that poorly…” Please do not be mistaken. The purpose of this retreat is not to belittle or look down on anyone, nor is it to teach or make anyone feel uncomfortable. However, the theme of “I thirst” involves content that is not to be received just intellectually or through simple reflection. It also requires us to go deeper, to make time and space for ourselves, to face the most difficult and core issues in our lives, to meet the Lord in our hearts, and to genuinely and wholeheartedly experience God’s presence and companionship. The purpose of this retreat is to reveal our “blind spots” one by one, so that we can slowly see the truth and be more “awake”.

“A hardened heart” is our greatest enemy in quenching our thirst. It is the result of long-term “dryness,” a state of being constantly closed off by our own “blind spots,” which is the devil’s most adept tactic!

Satan was originally an angel who, like other angels, knew God very well. However, because of his pride and jealousy, he hardened his heart against God, became a fallen angel, the prince of darkness, the father of lies, and could also be called the father of “hardened hearts”. Therefore, Satan is eager to lead more people into a state of “hardened heart”, making them more easily manipulated and influenced by the devil, turning them into the devil’s slaves, and leading them away from our Heavenly Father who loves us most dearly.

What is alarming is that most people are not aware that they have a “hardened heart” and believe they have no problem. The devil is happy to go along with this and encourage you to keep your heart hardened.

Our “hardened heart” causes us to gradually drift away from God without even realizing it.

On the contrary, to resolve our spiritual dryness, we need to try to draw closer to God. We can imagine this relationship as the true distance between ourselves and God. The closer the distance, the better the relationship; the farther away, the more distant the relationship. Generally speaking, you cannot say that you have a good relationship with God if you feel that you are far apart from each other. This relationship is also reflected in the gap between what we desire and what God desires. The greater the difference, the farther we feel God is away from us and the more distant the relationship becomes.

Therefore, the key to “quenching our thirst” lies in our efforts to narrow the gap between what we desire and what our Heavenly Father desires; the more our desires are in line with God’s desires, the better the relationship becomes.

Our Heavenly Father, who is ever-loyal, only desires us and nothing else, with a single-minded focus and attention. That is the key. However, our desires are varied and scattered. When we couldn’t even focus on only one thing but chasing after several things at the same time, how could we remain faithful by having only one main desire in life? In this unequal relationship, our “thirsty” condition won’t even be satisfied, let alone attaining happiness in life. As a result, our Heavenly Father will keep waiting for us bitterly, and our spiritual dryness will not be relieved. This is because what we seek is not what our heart and soul truly need. We may deceive ourselves for a moment, but we cannot deceive ourselves perpetually. We will come to realize and experience the state described by St. Augustine: “Our hearts are restless until they rest in you, O Lord.” Indeed, we were created by God and for God. It is a fact that we cannot deny.

Only when God and our desires meet, that is, when our desires are in line with His, can both God’s and our thirst be satisfied at the same time, as one cannot be without the other.

This is the crucial and only way to quench our thirst in life.

To reduce our blind spots and opportunities that lead to a “hardened heart”, one of the most effective methods is to simplify our lives.

A simple life helps us to reduce the clutter and lesser things in life, which not only minimizes our distractions but also our non-essential desires.

Because satisfying these desires requires a great deal of time and effort, it not only wastes our energy but also distracts us from directing our energy in handling the most important things in life. It increases our blind spots in these important areas, indirectly crowding our mind and vision, making it hard for us to receive God’s messages and guidance, which may prevent us from making the right decisions in life. This is something we cannot neglect.

Reflection

Do you think you have any blind spots? Do you have a hardened heart?

We tend to think that God has complete control over everything, including our relationship with Him. After the reflections of the past two days, do you have any new insights?

In your relationship with God, do you feel that you are faithful to Him? Is it God who let you down, or is it you who let Him down?

Today’s Prayer

Merciful Father, thank You for further opening my eyes and my heart, allowing me to see more clearly and be more sensitive, so that I can see my blind spots and hardness of heart, and also feel Your heartache. Please do not let my awakening process stop due to my pride, thinking that I have no problems, and even blaming You for not actively approaching me and granting me an intimate relationship with You. Let me be more fair to You, understand You more, and love You more. Abba Father, I love You!

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

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Fundraising Appeal

Thank you for participating in this 40-day Lenten spiritual journey, I Thirst. We hope you have been inspired and have benefitted from it! For the spiritual benefit of all of you, Fountain of Love and Life devotes a lot of time and effort in producing various spiritual projects every year, and all our ministries are sustained by the generous donations of our supporters. We hope you will support us with prayers and donations. Please make an online donation using the button at the top of the website Lent.FLL.cc. Thank you very much for your support. God bless!

The following is the “Farmer of Hearts: I Thirst” team, including FLL staff and volunteers.
Please kindly pray for them. May God protect them and sustain their physical, mental and spiritual well-being.

Project Manager: Michael Lam
Writer: Paul Yeung
Editors: Bonny Chan, Rosa Tse
English Translators: Bonny Chan, Sammy Ip, Zenia Lau
Cantonese Narrator: Margaret Woo
English Narrators: Bonny Chan, Sammy Ip
Mandarin Narrators: Anthony X. and team
Audio Editors: Arnold Chan, Fonte Ip, Sander Lee, Margaret Woo
YouTube Editors: Fonte Ip, Damaso Wong
Graphics: Francis Lai, Rosa Tse
Website: Angela Wong, Patricia Young
Podcast: Angela Wong
Social Media: Clara Chang, Yollie Leung, Carmen Tsang, Rosa Tse, Damaso Wong

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