Stubborn!

We hear a lot about pride and a lack of advancement in faith.  But if you 'drill-down' into pride, what shapes pride, what fuels pride?

In  my experience, there's one dominant element:  stubbornness!  Yes, stubbornness, an unwillingness to bend, listen, yield to anything other than my own opinion, perspective and bias.

The result:  a lifestyle in which I must always be right.

Biblically speaking, Israel worked hard to always be right.  And so Israel often got narrow-minded, rigid -- stuck and stubborn -- in their own bias and opinion.  Thus, often we read of the obstinance of Israel's heart.  Why Hosea describes Israel as a stubborn heifer; translated:  a stubborn cow or stubborn mule. (Hosea 4:16).  And Isaiah indicates that Israel's hardness and inflexibility was so intense, that "...the sinews of [Israel's] neck were iron [and Israel's] forehead was bronze..."  (Isaiah 48:4).

But whether in regards to Israel or us, stubbornness doesn't take us in the best direction.  Stubbornness only takes us in the wrong direction, resulting in calamity, heartache, and train-wrecks!

Robert E. Lee, the famed Civil War general, is often type-cast as a Southern Gentleman -- but Lee was also a stubborn gentleman.   Probably the most famed example of Lee’s stubbornness happened at Gettysburg when he ordered Pickett’s Charge. 

Convinced a victory at Gettysburg was crucial to winning European support for the Confederate cause, Lee got unreasonable, ordering 12,000 Confederate soldiers to charge across an open field, for a distance of two miles.  Not surprisingly, Lee’s generals begged him not to execute such a charge; but Lee got stubborn and executed the charge.  And the result was a train-wreck, producing over 7,000 Confederate causalities, a 50% loss, in less than 60 minutes! 

When Lee frantically asked George Picket to regroup his military division for another attack, Pickett responded:  “General, I have no division" and just walked away. 

That's what happens when we get stubborn and charge ahead:  we have no division – we decimate resources – we lose our ability to advance constructively in life.  

Don’t lose your ability to advance constructively in life.  Stop charging ahead; recognize and address the stubbornness in your life.