The Danger of Stubborness
For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, He also has rejected you from being king.
1 Samuel 15:23
The prophet Samuel told King Saul that God considered rebellion to be like witchcraft and STUBBORNESS to be like idolatry. I like to say that when a person is stubborn about something – they have made an IDOL out of their own opinion. They won’t budge on what they think – they stubbornly cling to their opinion no matter what anyone says – including God Himself! When we do that – God says we are guilty of idolatry.
This type of situation often occurs when God instructs us to do something and we insist it can’t be done the way God has told us to do it. That is what happened to King Saul. God wanted him to wait until the prophet Samuel arrived to make a sacrifice to the Lord before he went into battle. King Saul couldn’t wait – he took matters into his own hands – because he was afraid the people were scattering and so he offered the sacrifice himself. He stubbornly decided his opinion was better than GOD’S opinion about the situation. His stubbornness and rebellion cost him his divine destiny. The Prophet Samuel told him, “He (God) also has rejected you from being king.” 1 Samuel 15:23b
The same thing happened when God told the children of Israel to go into the Promised Land. God said they could do it and have victory - but the Israelites stubbornly insisted they could NOT overcome the giants in the land. They made an idol out of their own opinion and it cost them 40 years of wandering in the Wilderness. God called them “stiff-necked people” which is another way of saying “stubborn!” Go up to a land flowing with milk and honey; but I will not go up among you, for you are a stiff-necked people, lest I destroy you on the way. Exodus 33:3 Amplified Bible
God’s goal for your life is the “Promised Land.” I don’t mean heaven – I mean the abundant life that Jesus referred to in John 10:10 when He said: “I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” God wants each of us to live in the fullness of His love, power and purpose for our lives on this earth. But he has a very specific path to get you to that “Promised Land.”
God’s path often looks contrary to our desires and to what our natural mind would easily embrace. Following it requires obedience, dependence on the Holy Spirit, and a surrender of our will, preferences and even our own ideas.
We can observe a tragic result of stubbornness (or idolizing your own opinion above God’s) in Acts 7:51. It is the place where Stephen warned the religious leaders: “You men who are stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears are always resisting the Holy Spirit; you are doing just as your fathers did.” The Jewish leaders had stubbornly refused to recognize Jesus as the Messiah - and thereby missed His coming for which they had waited thousands of years!
Think about your own life…
Is there ANY area of your life – small or large where you have resisted the prompting of the Holy Spirit?
Is there something God has told you to do that you have insisted can’t be done the way God says it should be done?
Is there anything you have left undone or procrastinated in doing because you felt sure it was impossible?
God doesn’t want you to miss out on your divine destiny because you have made an idol out of your own opinion! Repent for any stubbornness and resistance to the Holy Spirit and then pray for the grace you need to AGREE with God and to trust Him for the results!