Stubborn Donkey?

“And the LORD said to me, ‘I have seen this people, and they are a stiff-necked people indeed!’”
Deuteronomy 9:13

Are you stuck these days? Do you feel like this donkey, stuck in a well?

How stubborn are you?

What a sweet, warm, fuzzy word: stubborn.

“For I knew how stubborn you were...”
Isaiah 48:4

They don’t apply it to donkeys for nothing. Are you seeing yourself with a stubborn streak these days? Are you resisting God on something?

We all are; we all want our own way, don’t we?

God is not surprised or freaked out by our notorious stubborn streaks. He knows all about ‘em. He knows they even exist in a Christian! Gasp! Don’t tell that dirty little secret. We can be going to church, saying our prayers, looking all squeaky clean, but being stubborn- donkey stubborn- the entire time!

EEEE- AWWWWHHHHH!!!

So, why are we so stubborn? Is it because we think our way is so much better than God’s way? Do we know what that is? Are we seeing things clearly, let alone, seeing God’s way? God tells us, that, when it comes to this matter, we’re all a little clueless…

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, says the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.”
Isaiah 55:8-9

But nevertheless, going with, not against God, has reward!

“For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.”
Jeremiah 29:11

“Trust in the LORD with all your heart; and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.”
Proverbs 3:5-6

However, going against God also has some consequences as well…

“He, that being often reproved hardens his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy.”
Proverbs 29:1

“A whip for the horse, a bridle for the donkey, and a rod for the fool's back.”
Proverbs 26:3

“Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.”
Proverbs 16:18

Yikes!!! A fall… Hmm. Could God be telling us then that our stuck nature, falling into a well or pit of some kind can be traced back to pride? Stubborn pride, nonetheless.

Anyone else besides me feel like the biggest donkey here?

God’s not trying to destroy us, condemn us; He’s trying to help us. Are we, however, fighting that help?

“Yet they did not listen or pay attention; they were stiff-necked and would not listen or respond to discipline.”
Jeremiah 17:23


God loves us, no matter what. But we each have a choice to make. What will we choose? To be stubborn, doing it our own way, which, really, by the way, ain’t that great, in the first place?

Or, are we choosing God? We decide. Stubborn donkey? Or blessed, happy child of God?

“I call heaven and earth as witness this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live:”
Deuteronomy 30:19

Each of us has the power to decide, even while being stuck in our own unique well.

Let’s choose to get- and remain- unstuck, then! Copyright © 2012 by Sheryle Cruse