From Faith to Faith: Tuning Our Hearts to God’s Word
We can listen to sermons for years, know the promises of Scripture, and still reach a point where they barely seem to touch our hearts. We understand the words, but something within us no longer responds. We come to worship, open our Bibles, and try to pray, yet our thoughts remain tangled in work, anxiety, and unresolved problems. We are tired. Hope is hard to sustain. The book of Exodus describes just such a moment when Moses brings the Israelites news of their deliverance.
The Lord declares that He has heard His people’s groaning and remembers His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He promises to free the Israelites from slavery, take them as His own people, and bring them into the land He swore to give their ancestors. Yet their response is not what we might expect: “And Moses spake so unto the children of Israel: but they hearkened not unto Moses for anguish of spirit, and for cruel bondage” (Exodus 6:9). Moses speaks of deliverance, but they scarcely have the strength to take in what he is saying.
Behind the phrase “anguish of spirit” is the Hebrew expression “kotzer ruach.” It conveys a spirit so constricted and exhausted that a person seems unable to catch their breath. Years of slavery and relentless labor had worn the people down until even the promise of freedom could find no response within them. We might picture a radio with a faulty connection: the message is being transmitted, but the receiver cannot pick it up clearly. That image helps us recognize what is happening. God is speaking, yet the listener is too overwhelmed to receive His words.
The same can happen to us. Our concerns crowd in before we are fully awake and stay with us late into the night. Even during prayer, we rehearse conversations, calculate expenses, and revisit old hurts. In that condition, it is easy to conclude that the Lord is silent. But first we need to ask ourselves: am I able to listen right now? A radio tuned to the wrong frequency does not mean the broadcast has grown weaker. We need to discover what is interfering with our reception.
Before we look for our circumstances to change, we need to let the Lord restore our ability to hear Him. This is no reason to condemn ourselves for being weary. God saw the crushing burden of slavery in Egypt and came to free His people. Yeshua likewise invites the exhausted to come to Him: “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). We can bring Him our anxiety, emptiness, disappointment, and scattered thoughts. We do not have to put everything right before we come.
The apostle Peter writes: “Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you” (1 Peter 5:7). We often know this verse while continuing to hold tightly to every concern, as though everything would fall apart without our constant worrying. Trusting God’s care is something we learn in practice. He has given us prayer, Scripture, worship, and fellowship with other believers to help us. Sometimes an honest conversation with a brother or sister reveals how much we have taken upon ourselves and where we have stopped depending on God.
God’s Word is what we must tune our hearts to hear. “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Romans 10:17). Moses did not approach the Israelites with his own theories. He delivered the message the Lord had entrusted to him. Today, we open Scripture, read it in our congregations and homes, and reflect on it together so that our faith rests on a firm foundation. We must also allow that Word to correct us. If we welcome only what comforts us and pull away whenever it challenges our convictions or behavior, much will remain unchanged.
Paul explains: “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works” (2 Timothy 3:16-17). Notice the word “correction.” Sometimes we ask God to open new opportunities while holding on to habits that keep us from faithfully handling what He has already given us. The Lord addresses these things because He loves us. He shows us where fear governs our decisions, where resentment drowns out His instruction, and where our own opinions carry more weight with us than Scripture. Receiving that correction can be difficult, but it prepares us for the road ahead.
There is an important progression in the promise delivered through Moses: the Lord will bring His people out of slavery and into the promised land. He commits Himself to the whole journey. Yet those who have been set free must learn a different way of life. In Egypt, the Israelites had grown accustomed to bondage, oppression, and fear. Now God was calling them to live as His covenant people. Their thinking, speech, and conduct would have to change. They could not carry all their old assumptions with them and expect a new land to put everything right.
The wilderness exposed how deeply unbelief had taken root. The Israelites witnessed God’s works, yet the next difficulty would send them back into grumbling. Joshua and Caleb continued to trust the Lord when others gave way to fear. Later, before the conquest of the land, God commanded Joshua to circumcise the Israelites. The new generation needed to remember whose people they were and live in covenant with Him. That raises a searching question for us as well: what are we carrying into the next season of our lives? A willingness to trust God, or a habit of explaining in advance why nothing will work?
Even our religious background can sometimes stand in the way. We become accustomed to thinking about God in a particular way and stop testing our conclusions against Scripture. Any invitation to trust Him more deeply meets the objection that we have always believed otherwise. But walking with the Lord requires a willingness to learn. Abraham heard God’s command to leave familiar surroundings and set out for the place God would show him: “So Abram departed, as the LORD had spoken unto him” (Genesis 12:4). He acted on what he heard. His faith carried him forward.
We see a similar moment beside the Lake of Gennesaret. The fishermen had worked all night and caught nothing. Now they were washing their nets. Their work had ended in disappointment, and it was time to rest. Yeshua stepped into Simon’s boat and taught the crowd from it. Simon was nearby, hearing God’s Word in the midst of his weariness and ordinary responsibilities. Then the Lord spoke directly to him: “Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught” (Luke 5:4).
Remember the Israelites who could not listen to Moses because of their anguish and hard labor. Simon was tired too. His recent experience gave him little reason for hope. Yet his response was different: “Master, we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing: nevertheless at thy word I will let down the net” (Luke 5:5). To return to the image of the radio, the connection was restored. Simon heard the word addressed to him and allowed it to shape his decision.
Moving forward in faith does not require us to deny our difficulties. It requires us to hear what the Lord is saying in the midst of them. Peter spoke plainly about his failure. The nets were empty, and his strength was spent. But he did not end there. Yeshua’s word gave him sufficient reason to go out again. We too can be honest with God about our circumstances. The question is whether we are then willing to listen, or whether we have already decided that past experience settles the matter.
The fishermen themselves had to launch the boat and lower the nets. The Lord gave the command; they had to carry it out. Sometimes we expect faith to spare us the need to make decisions and take action. Yet Simon went back to work. Abraham set out on his journey. Obedience calls for our participation. Once we understand what the Lord is asking of us, there comes a time to take the next step, even while the memory of disappointment is still fresh.
This applies to ministry as well. When we need to travel, pray for people, and help them, practical questions inevitably arise. Where will the money come from? How will we find the time? Will we have the strength? We learn to trust God’s provision for the work He calls us to do. I remember a pastor from Latvia telling me about a young man we had prayed for. According to his testimony, the young man had been freed from his dependence on alcohol and cigarettes. These changes in people’s lives are why we go. They remind us what our strength, resources, and opportunities are for.
The fishermen’s obedience brought a result they had been unable to achieve through an entire night’s work: “And when they had this done, they inclosed a great multitude of fishes: and their net brake” (Luke 5:6). They had to call their partners in the other boat to help. God’s blessing required them to work together. There is an important lesson here for the congregation. We need to rejoice in what the Lord is doing in another person’s life and be ready to help when the work grows. One person’s blessing can benefit many when we are willing to serve together.
But Peter saw far more than a successful catch. He fell at Yeshua’s knees and said: “Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord” (Luke 5:8). God’s power and goodness reached his conscience. We need to remember this as we pray for revival. People need reconciliation with God, repentance, and freedom from their former way of life. That is what we seek when we ask the Lord to move in Jerusalem and bring salvation to the people of Israel. I remember a joint prayer gathering of Jerusalem congregations where my own desire to pray for people’s salvation echoed what other ministers already had on their hearts. Such moments strengthen our resolve to labor together and look to God for His answer.
Yeshua told Simon: “Fear not; from henceforth thou shalt catch men” (Luke 5:10). Then we read: “And when they had brought their ships to land, they forsook all, and followed him” (Luke 5:11). The catch was not the end of the story. Peter had received a calling that would claim the rest of his life. God’s blessing brings responsibility: we must use what we receive in faithfulness to the One who gave it.
That is why Yeshua’s warning deserves our careful attention: “Children, how hard is it for them that trust in riches to enter into the kingdom of God!” (Mark 10:24). We can ask the Lord to provide and then gradually transfer our trust from Him to our resources and position. The man who came to Yeshua asking about eternal life went away sorrowful when invited to part with his possessions and follow Him. His story calls us to examine our own hearts. Are we free to use what we have in obedience to God? Are we willing to help those in need? Do we remain close to the Lord when life is going well?
Peter reminded Yeshua that the disciples had left everything to follow Him. Yeshua answered with a promise of reward that included the words “with persecutions” (Mark 10:30). He told them plainly that difficulties would come. Trials do not cancel His faithfulness, and blessing does not remove our need to hold fast to Him. Whatever our circumstances, we must return to this instruction: “Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves” (2 Corinthians 13:5). Have we lost our readiness to listen? Have anxiety, self-reliance, or resentment crowded out everything else?
Keeping our hearts attuned to God’s Word requires continuing attention. Paul writes: “Meditate upon these things; give thyself wholly to them; that thy profiting may appear to all” (1 Timothy 4:15), and then: “Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee” (1 Timothy 4:16). If the connection seems weak today, we do not have to accept that as our permanent condition. Bring your cares to the Lord. Return to Scripture. Receive the correction you need, and seek support from fellow believers. God speaks so that we can trust Him and move forward. May we answer His word with Peter’s willingness: “Nevertheless at thy word I will let down the net” (Luke 5:5).
Pastor Oren Lev Ari