I've got stubbornness on my mind today, so we are going to be looking
at this topic. Want to know why it's on my mind? Because it's in my heart,
that's why!! I will confess to you all that I fight the tendency to be
a stubborn person and it is a quality that gets in God's way in my life.
So if you don't mind, today's Rise and Shine is just for me - but I'll
share it with all of you anyway - just in case you might have the same
problem. :-)
Stubbornness is really arrogance, pride, and an uncooperative attitude
- let's call it like it is, amen? That's the usual condition I find my
heart in if I do not take regular inventory of it. I have to keep my heart
in check, don't you, ladies? Why should we make every effort to avoid
stubbornness? Because stubbornness can lead to suffering, as we'll see
in Pharaoh's life, and is revealed in the verses I've included below:
Exodus 8:1-2
And the Lord spake unto Moses, Go unto Pharaoh, and say unto him, Thus
saith the Lord, Let my people go, that they may serve me. And if thou
refuse to let them go, behold, I will smite all thy borders with frogs:
Exodus 8:19-21
Then the magicians said unto Pharaoh, This is the finger of God: and Pharaoh's
heart was hardened, and he hearkened not unto them; as the Lord had said.
And the Lord said unto Moses, Rise up early in the morning, and stand
before Pharaoh; lo, he cometh forth to the water; and say unto him, Thus
saith the Lord, Let my people go, that they may serve me. Else, if thou
wilt not let my people go, behold, I will send swarms of flies upon thee,
and upon thy servants, and upon thy people, and into thy houses: and the
houses of the Egyptians shall be full of swarms of flies, and also the
ground whereon they are.
It's quite clear that stubbornness can lead to affliction, is it not?
After repeated warnings, we find that Pharaoh STILL refused to obey God.
He hardened his heart every time there was a break in the plagues. And
so do I! Every time there seems to be a break in the pressures, difficulties,
or stresses in life, I inevitably grow stubborn again, just like Pharaoh.
My heart hardens right up and I become a candidate for misery. Therefore,
I need God to continually apply pressure to me to keep working on my resistant
heart, maintaining its pliability and willingness. It is HIS will that
the Lord wants accomplished and often times I refuse it in preference
of my own will. Pharaoh's stubborn disobedience brought suffering not
only upon himself, but also upon his entire country! While persistence
is good, stubbornness however, is usually self-centered. And ladies, stubbornness
toward God is ALWAYS disobedience! We must strive to avoid disobedience,
because our refusal to listen to God will bring negative consequences
upon others, causing them also to suffer - especially those closest to
us. The mercy of God has warned us… However, by refusing to listen to
God, Pharaoh and several others spoken of in scripture suffered many losses.
Let's not choose to go through the same thing…
2 Chron. 30:8
Now be ye not stiffnecked, as your fathers were, but yield yourselves
unto the Lord, and enter into his sanctuary, which he hath sanctified
for ever: and serve the Lord your God, that the fierceness of his wrath
may turn away from you.
Know what else stubbornness does, ladies? Stubbornness can make it difficult
to believe. Some people think, "If only I could see a miracle, I could
believe in God!" Well, God gave Pharaoh just such an opportunity, didn't
He? When lice infested Egypt, even the magicians agreed that this was
God's work; that this was "the finger of God", but still Pharaoh refused
to believe! He was willfully obstinate, and stubbornness can blind a person
to the truth... When you and I rid ourselves of stubbornness, we may be
surprised to see how God will work in our lives and we'll realize that
He has been involved all along. We may be amazed at how much we'll start
trusting in the Lord and believing His promises too!
Yes, listening to God keeps our hearts soft and prevents that hardness
from setting in. Is the finger of God poking at a stubborn spot in your
heart today? Many times we read of the hand of God upon someone's life,
but today it's the finger. Today God is a little more direct in His target
spot, amen? He wants that stubbornness gone! Don't try and wiggle out
from underneath God's finger, dear lady, give in and give up! Cooperate
with the Holy Spirit for a change; stop resisting His still small voice.
When you refrain from changing, basically you've ceased becoming more
like Christ. Can you really afford to stop that process?? What can you
do today to be less stubborn, softer and more sensitive to God and His
Word? We must surrender not only what the Lord puts us through, but surrender
our reaction to what He does! God's will is hard only when it comes up
against our will. If you decline to submit, your stubbornness can become
a permanent condition…
Psalm 81:11-12
But my people would not hearken to my voice; and Israel would none of
me. So I gave them up unto their own hearts' lust: and they walked in
their own counsels.
We find in the above verses that God let the Israelites go on blindly,
mulishly, and selfishly, when they should have been obeying and pursuing
God's desires! Sometimes the Lord lets us continue in our stubbornness
to bring us to our senses because He wants us to learn the consequences
of our pigheaded, sinful ways. Our heavenly Father uses these particular
experiences in our lives to turn us away from greater sin to a greater
faith in Him. Hopefully stubbornness has not become the permanent condition
of your heart today! In what specific area of your life do you need to
listen more closely to God to prevent that from happening? Are you so
obstinate that nobody is allowed to tell you when to humble yourself??
Keep in mind that hardened hearts lead to great miseries. You can either
surrender to Christ or surrender to chaos... Don't be a Pharaoh and block
the change you so desperately need to make!
God Bless,
Pam
Isaiah 60:1&2
Copyright 1999 Pamela A. Iannello
Revised 2003
