How are people stubborn in their relationship to God?

Exodus 8:19“This is the finger of God!” the magicians exclaimed to Pharaoh. But Pharaoh’s heart remained hard. He wouldn’t listen to them, just as the Lord had predicted.

Stubbornness involves seeing God’s work around us and refusing to believe it is God doing the work.

Exodus 9:12The Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and just as the Lord had predicted to Moses, Pharaoh refused to listen.

A habit of stubbornly refusing to acknowledge God may cause him to leave us alone. What hope can we have then?

Matthew 17:17Jesus said, “You faithless and corrupt people! How long must I be with you? How long must I put up with you? Bring the boy here to me.”

Stubborn resistance to Jesus and his ways is a persistent rejection of God himself.

1 Corinthians 10:6-12These things happened as a warning to us, so that we would not crave evil things as they did, or worship idols as some of them did. As the Scriptures say, “The people celebrated with feasting and drinking, and they indulged in pagan revelry.” And we must not engage in sexual immorality as some of them did, causing 23,000 of them to die in one day. Nor should we put Christ to the test, as some of them did and then died from snakebites. And don’t grumble as some of them did, and then were destroyed by the angel of death. These things happened to them as examples for us. They were written down to warn us who live at the end of the age. If you think you are standing strong, be careful not to fall.

Stubbornness can show up in many ways, but it has the same effect of cutting us off from everything God has for us. We can see it in others but need God’s help to see it in ourselves. Sometimes we think we are standing strong when we are only being stubborn.