Letting go of your stubbornness.

“Yet the Lord set His heart in love on your fathers and chose their offspring after them, you above all peoples, as you are this day. Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no longer stubborn. For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who is not partial and takes no bribe.”

Deuteronomy 10:15-17

I am positive we all get stubborn in our own way quite frequently, unwilling to change without force, compromise, or bribery. Our stubbornness gets the better of us keeping us traveling in the same direction over and over until we have worn a trench so deep it doesn’t seem possible to change course. Other times we keep walking down a path that leads us to a literal or proverbial deathly cliff edge. Well let me tell you God doesn’t find your trench or your cliff hanging path intimidating in the slightest. With Him, course correction is what He does, because He knows when choosing a path on your own, where you are going, and how you will get there . Your path doesn’t scare Him, nor does the stubbornness of your heart that got you there. He sees you, every part, even the deepest depths of your soul. Yet, there is hope, because He knows who He made you to be. Who YOU are in Christ as a co-inheritor of the Kingdom of God means there is always hope for your life here on earth and forever in eternity. Your identity defines your future, not the sinful choices you make or the stubbornness you carry. If God can be faithful and generous with whole of Israel throughout the Old Testament who were stubborn, constantly complaining about their circumstances, and falling back into sin regularly, He will do a work in you. Will it be overnight and with little effort on your part, probably not. Your trek from stubbornness to submission, wilderness to promised land, mourning to joy, and frustration to fruit is on the Father’s timeline (which is almost never on ours). Much of this heart change is dependent on your willingness to let go when He says let go and go forward when He says march, trusting in who He is. When you lay the whole of your identity in who He is and who He says you are, you can allow a course change in your life toward a beautiful direction.

“For the land that you are entering to take possession of it is not like the land of Egypt, from which you have come, where you sowed your seed and irrigated it, like a garden of vegetables. But the land that you are going over to possess is a land of hills and valleys, which drinks water by the rain from heaven, a land that the Lord your God cares for. The eyes of the Lord your God are always upon it, from the beginning of the year to the end of the year.”

Deuteronomy 11:10-12

God is always moving us to greater glory when we are in alignment with Him. We see this when He speaks of the land the Israelites will inherit. We see above God speaking to the Israelite people telling them their future is not built upon what they make for themselves, which landed them in slavery to the world, the world being Egypt at the time. Our own glory we create in our own toil when we are far from God pales in comparison to the glory meant for us when we stand in God’s light. Egypt was a godless nation which drew the people further away from God’s path for them. Their stubbornness is what made their trek from Egypt to Israel forty years long instead of eleven days. God knew that they would not meet their promised land as a new people, one with God, walking the straight path, in such a short distance or timeline. The lengthy and circuitous route they took during the forty year period is what solidified the Israelites as God’s chosen people who would be set apart from the world. He wanted to bring His people from glory of previous generations, forward to greater glory so they could stand in His promises. In that forty year wilderness, God never left them. He stayed with His people guiding them and providing for them every step of the way. God molded and shaped the way for His people to stand apart throughout time. In our stubbornness of heart, and wilderness places, a big question is are we trusting God will see us through? Will we be obedient in His course correction for our hearts and minds? Will we allow God to take us from our previous glory in another season, to greater glory on the other side of our wilderness and stubborn heart?

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord, and turn away from evil. It will be healing to your flesh and refreshment to your bones.

Proverb 3:5-8

When you find yourself rinsing and repeating areas of struggle, usually God is trying to reveal to you that there is a stubbornness of heart and unwillingness to change. He wants you to know that if you choose to go through the process of Him pruning away the stubbornness of your heart, He will see you through to the other side. The greatest revelation is to put your trust in His character, know He will see your path made straight, and set you on the other side of your struggle. The Father is more wise than we give Him credit for. In us allowing Him to do a work in our heart, we allow for a refreshment of our heart and soul. Our struggle with sin and disobedience is on going and will never stop. With the Holy Spirit as our guide, and scripture as our standard of Truth, we can trek through the deepest wilderness and find the other side better than whence we came. God desires continual growth in each of us throughout our lifetime, which requires continual sanctification, becoming more Christ like each day. The upward call to live a Christ like life is no easy task, because Christ’s life, death, and resurrection was no easy path. Our path to walk a Holy and righteous life such as the Son of God, requires trial, temptation, and sanctification. We can do it, we can let go of our stubbornness to go our own way. We can let go of the desire to lives as though we are more wise than our God. We can let go of our need to be our own god and know our own way. Jesus is the Way, the measure of Truth, and the eternal Life. If we want Jesus, we must allow God to become the champion of our wilderness, because there is no other way we make it out the other side better than when we entered. We are set apart children of God, living for a higher calling than the satisfaction of ourselves. Trust that God knows what He’s doing when you meet your wilderness and find your stubbornness in the midst. He’s calling you to let go of your old ways, thoughts, desires, understandings, habits, and sometimes relationships. Just let go, He will pull you from your trench and set you on His highest places. You will travel and experience life in an abundant way that you had not yet experienced. In your obedience of letting go, you will find yourself aligned with the heart of God, His plans for you, and for His glory. Keep going and know He has not left you, will not leave you. Trust in His direction and keep marching, your path will be made straight. Let go of your stubbornness and step into greater glory for His kingdom.

Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. For we have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end. As it is said, “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.”

Hebrews 3:12-15