“I have made your forehead as hard as the hardest rock!”” (Ezekiel 3:9, NLT)
A friend of mine reminded me of that passage from Ezekiel today and it encouraged me. In the past, I, too, have been told (I won’t tell you by whom) that I am hard-headed. It wasn’t meant as a compliment.
But this was God speaking to Ezekiel. God was commissioning him and sending him on an assignment to preach to a people the Lord described as “hardened, obstinate, and unyielding.” Then the Lord says: “I will make you as unyielding and hardened as they are (v. 8).”
Stubbornness is not usually a good trait. But it can be in the right situation.
When it comes to standing for righteousness, I am unyielding. When it comes to protecting the innocent, I am stubborn. When someone I love is falling apart, I refuse to give up on them. When American religious freedom is threatened, I won’t give in. When someone says I’m on the “wrong side of history,” I remain obstinate. And when prayer doesn’t seem to work, I keep at it.
It’s not because I’m mean. I’m really a nice guy. It’s just that God gave me a hard head when it comes to these things.
Don’t give up!
