There is a path before each person that seems right, but it ends in death. –Proverbs 14:12 (NLT)
A battleship appeared to be on a collision course with another ship one foggy evening. The battleship’s captain radioed to the unknown ship, “Advise you change course 20 degrees to avoid collision.” Someone on a radio replied, “Advise you change course 20 degrees to avoid collision.” The battleship’s captain was not amused. He radioed back, “I am a ship’s captain. Change course 20 degrees, now!” Then came another reply, “I’m a seaman, second-class, and I advise you to change course 20 degrees, now!” The captain was furious, “This is a battleship! I order you to change course 20 degrees, immediately!” The seaman radioed back, “I am a lighthouse!”
Have you ever found yourself in a situation, not unlike the ship’s captain, where you just didn’t want to budge on your position? (and maybe later you even felt foolish for your stance?) Everyone is stubborn from time to time, but a lifestyle of stubbornness affects everyone in our path.
Pride prevents intimacy. When we are stubborn with others, we build walls that prevent relationships from growing. When those walls are high enough, they actually cause relationships to die. The one who is never willing to “change course” damages close relationships.
Stubbornness in our relationship with God works much in the same way as stubbornness with friends and family. Being stubborn with God means that we really don’t want to please the Lord. We want to call our own shots and determine our own course in life.
We kind of wish God would wave His magic wand over us so we could get our own way. When refusing to change course we might find ourselves, much like the battleship captain, on the verge of disaster. We may get what we want, but getting what we want can actually destroy us.
My encouragement for you today, both in relationships with people and God, is that you be willing to make a course correction if necessary, in order to build your relationships instead of tearing them down.
Food for thought:
In what areas of your life do you most often find yourself unwilling to change course?
Blessings,
Thora
