Reflection No. 51 of 4322
Context · Reflection
Revelation 16:7-11: a reflection
7I heard the altar saying, “Yes, Lord God, the Almighty, true and righteous are your judgments.” 8The fourth poured out his bowl on the sun, and it was given to him to scorch men with fire. 9People were scorched with great heat, and people blasphemed the name of God who has the power over these plagues. They didn’t repent and give him glory. 10The fifth poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and his kingdom was darkened. They gnawed their tongues because of the pain, 11and they blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores. They still didn’t repent of their works.
This is a scene of terrible judgment, bowls of wrath poured out, scorching heat, darkness, pain. But read past the horrors to a small phrase that repeats, and it is a sobering thing: they did not repent. Under the weight of real suffering, the people curse God rather than turn to him. Again: they refused to repent.
That is worth stopping over, because we often assume suffering will drive people to God. Sometimes it does. But this passage shows the other possibility: pain can harden a heart as easily as soften it. Given every reason to turn, these hearts dig in and blaspheme instead. The suffering did not change their direction; it only revealed and deepened it.
The searching question is quiet but real: which way does hardship move me? The same trouble that drives one person to their knees drives another into bitterness and blame. When pain comes to you, and it will, notice which way your heart turns. Does it soften toward God, or harden against him? Do not assume suffering will do the work of repentance for you; the direction of the heart is a thing to tend now. And note that the altar calls God's judgments true and righteous, even here. Let your hard days bend you toward him, not away.
Lord, hardship can soften a heart or harden it, and the direction is mine to tend. When suffering comes, turn me toward you and not against you. Keep my heart from hardening, and bend my hard days into repentance.