Why are you so stubborn!?

Little Ms. Stubborn

Do you know anyone who is stubborn? Someone that you just can’t reason with. Someone that if you’d try to explain to them your point of view, they just shut down and won’t listen because they’ve made up their mind? They are the type of person that just won’t even nudge to hear your side of anything! And then you’re like, why bother even going back and forth with them, if they’re not even going to try to understand!! If they would just be quiet and listen!! And at least tried to pay attention and then they would see your point of view!!(frustrating, I know!) Do you know that type of person? Do you know anyone like that?

God understood how stubborn the people of Israel were when he said: “Come let us reason together,” says the Lord. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.” Isaiah 1:18

I think we can be as stubborn as the people of Israel. When God used the phrase “Come let us reason together”, I believe they had arguments amongst each other. They had believed contrary to what God could do through them and with them. I think when it comes to God telling us how much he loves us, we don’t believe it. When someone tells us that God can do amazing things in us and through us, we get uncomfortable and refuse to listen. We’ve already won the argument in our minds that God couldn’t do anything through us because we’ve made up our minds that it couldn’t be true. We have traded in our reasoning for God’s truth. Unconsciously, we have all these reasons why we aren’t capable, undeserving of God’s love for us. And we might be right. We are undeserving of his great love for us. We are incapable but that doesn’t dismiss His love for us.

You see, in the verses before 18, God goes on a tangent. He just goes off and starts to say in verse 4,”Ah, sinful nation, a people loaded with guilt, a brood of evil doers, children given to corruption! They have forsaken the Lord; they have spurned the Holy One of Israel and turned their backs on him.” Dang! OUCH! It’s like that now is it!!! There, if you needed proof on why we are undeserving, there it is right there. According to his word we are: guilty, we do evil, we are given over to our lusts and are selfish, reject God, and turned our backs on Him! (who else wants to run and hide?!)

Just like God wanted to reason with Israel, God wants to reason with us. Even though God knows ALL that about us, he still wants to settle the matter. We are guilty of all of that and even more but despite that, He says he wants to remove it like it never happened. If we would just sit in His presence and hear what He has to say about us and how He sees us, we would be completely transformed. Do you want to settle this once and for all?? Do you want to be free of condemnation and guilt?? Here’s some practical steps towards freedom. I’ve included 3, but you can add more along the way.

1. BE STILL- “Be still and know that I am God” Psalm 46:10

You can’t listen when you have a million things going on. And you can’t get to know someone if you don’t spend time with them. Everyday we are being bombarded with what we should look like, how we should think, where to spend our money. We need to create margin in our lives to get to know our Creator and find out who He is and who He isn’t. Just start with 5 minutes a day to just sit and be still. Turn off the music. Turn off the noise. Just sit and be still!!!

2. LISTEN- “ Faith comes by hearing, hearing the word of God” Romans 10:17

Faith moves mountains!! Moves the mountains of guilt and shame, and makes a clear view of His great love towards us. His word removes all fear and doubt about who we are. And His word establishes who we are when we align ourselves to His words and thoughts. But we have to take the time to READ and LISTEN!!! Start off with a verse. Google verses about God’s love for you. Precious are his thoughts towards you. They are too many, according to Psalm 139:17 if you knew how much God loved you, you wouldn’t be running away from him, you’d be running towards him!! So read!!

3. RECEIVE IT- “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith- it is not of yourselves, it is a gift from God. Not by works, so no one can boast.” Ephesians 2:8-9

What do you do when given a gift? You gladly receive it. Knowing you did nothing to earn it. You accept it. That’s the way it is with salvation. Going back to what God says in Isaiah...”Though your sins are like scarlet, I will make them as white as snow.” How did he do that? By giving his son Jesus as a gift, as a sacrifice for our sin. His blood washes us clean and makes us white as snow. We are justified. Just-as-if we never sinned!!! We couldn’t earn it.

Can you imagine arguing with God about this gift of Salvation? “Well, I can’t simply receive this God. You’re better off giving it to someone else!!!” That’s what we do when we reject and simply don’t believe that He is capable to love us despite how we are. Stop being stubborn and accept it. It’s already done. Jesus paid the high price for the gift of salvation. It’s paid in full, for me and for you!! And we don’t deserve it. It’s a gift. Receive it. And thank him for Jesus!

If you could only see yourself the way God sees you!! Perfect and blameless. White as snow!!! We would be happier. We wouldn’t be so depressed or anxious. We would be living our best life!!

So stop being stubborn when it comes to what God has to say about you. It’s settled. Things between you and God are good. God has no limit on what He can do through you. Stop resisting. Stop struggling. God’s love has no bounds!! He’s not mad at you, He’s madly in love with you.

I hope you can receive this word for you today. And that you can start anew with a fresh start on your relationship with God through his son Jesus. If you don’t have a relationship with Jesus, I encourage you to reach out to someone that does and start plugging in to His word. Then you’ll discover what life is all about through Jesus Christ. I promise, you’ll never be the same!!!

Leave a comment below. Would love to hear your thoughts!!

Love, GC