A Softened Spirit

Ezekiel 36:26
“A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.”

Spiritual hardness rarely announces itself. It creeps in through disappointment, unresolved hurt, prolonged fatigue, and repeated resistance to conviction. Over time, what was once tender becomes guarded. What was once responsive becomes resistant. Ezekiel speaks into this condition with a promise only God can fulfill: “I will take away the stony heart.”

A stone heart feels less because it must. Hardness is often self-protection masquerading as strength. We harden our hearts to avoid pain, but in doing so we also numb joy, compassion, and spiritual sensitivity. Revival restores what hardness has suppressed—it replaces stone with flesh.

Notice that God does not ask us to soften ourselves. He says, “I will give.” This is divine surgery. God removes what we cannot and replaces it with something living, responsive, and pliable. A heart of flesh feels again—it listens quickly, repents readily, and responds willingly.

A softened spirit is not a weak spirit. It is a yielded one. It trembles at God’s Word. It convicts easily. It forgives freely. It receives instruction without defensiveness. Hard hearts argue with God; soft hearts agree with Him.

Revival often exposes hardness we did not know was there—callousness toward sin, indifference toward others, impatience with weakness, resistance to change. God reveals this not to shame us, but to heal us. What He exposes, He intends to restore.

As January draws near its end, this promise becomes essential. Awakening cannot be sustained by intensity alone; it must be preserved by tenderness. Without a softened spirit, revival devolves into routine once again.

Pray today that God would remove any remaining hardness from your heart. Ask Him to keep you tender, teachable, and responsive. What God softens, He shapes—and what He shapes, He uses.