A friend told me about a young man, a veteran of the US’s Afghanistan war, who admitted having a great deal of anger and unforgiveness that led him to drunken rages. When she talked to him about about forgiveness he told her God had allowed him to not forgive. It bothered her.
As we talked about his attitude I said I understood his feeling that way. But it is a deception. God does not give one permission to act in disobedience to His will, which IS always toward forgiveness. Rather, if one’s heart is hardened, God will simply remove His protective hand, so that an individual who is no longer attentive or attuned to the conviction of the Holy Spirit will simply justify and excuse his own desires and even say God has “allowed it.” As the Word says, he is given over to his own depravity. That’s why we are also told that the heart is deceitful above all things…. It will believe what it desires to believe.
One of my pastors was fond of saying, “The good news is God will give you what you want; the bad news is God will give you what you want.” His point was that one should consider well what one wants. At some point of resistance and disobedience you’ll be in your own.
As creatures with freewill God is not going to commandeer or hijack our minds and affections to MAKE us do what is in keeping with His will. We must desire it, ask for it, seek it. And, once finding it, be obedient to it.
So, we pray against such hardness of heart and deception of mind…. and ask God to bring someone he can trust into his life and bring him to his senses. Or simply touch his heart and heal it so he can know truth.