The Bible tells of how 3 days after His burial, Jesus had appeared to Mary Magdalene at the tomb, and told her to tell the disciples He was alive. When she told them she had seen Jesus alive and well – they refused to believe her. Soon after that, Jesus appeared to two of His followers on their way to the country. When they reported walking and speaking with the risen Jesus to the rest of the disciples – once again, they refused to believe! Now, with them all in the room together, Jesus appears to the unbelieving bunch and rebukes them for their unbelief, that came from the hardened condition of their hearts. When we choose unbelief, our hearts become hardened to receive anything from the Lord. The Bible often likens our hearts to being the soil His word is planted in. We are God’s garden. The quality of the soil determines the result of what’s planted in it. When we are in unbelief, it makes the soil of our hearts hard, making it difficult to get the word in. This hardness of heart restricts that word from rooting itself deep down into the living water of our spirit-man. This means the seed of the word is going to take slower to germinate – even though there’s no fault with the seed or the word itself – if the soil condition is wrong – there will always be a delay in it producing fruit in our lives. In fact, compacted, hard soil is known for not draining well. An unbelieving heart tends to hold onto offence easily. When we refuse to become skilled at letting go of disappointment quickly, the soil of our hearts becomes hardened and unyielding to the work of the Holy Spirit and as a result – faith cannot operate and the word’s growth or productivity in our lives is stunted. Jesus knew disappointment and unbelief had caused the disciples’ hearts to become so hardened that they refused to acknowledge the truth that was brought to them. If they were to go into all the world and preach the Gospel – they were going to need to learn how to refuse unbelief and keep their hearts free from offence, in order to cultivate the faith needed to get the job done. Make sure you do the same if you want to walk in the fulfilment of every promise Jesus has made available for you.