My Stubborn Will

As an airplane was on its way to Paris, a report came in about heavy fog in "the City of Lights." The fog was so severe that landing the plane in Paris was completely out of the question. So, the aircraft was diverted to another city about 190 miles away where the passengers were to be carried home by charter buses. Now, most passengers would be upset by the delay but would probably understand the situation. At least the company was professional enough to offer the people a nice bus ride to their destination.

However, when the plane finally landed, over 20 passengers refused to get off the plane and demanded that they be taken to Paris by air. The flight attendants were going to remain on the aircraft but the passengers became so troublesome that even the attendants left. To try to get the people out of the plane, bathrooms were locked, the power was turned off, and the people were left in the dark. The disgruntled people staged this protest for four hours, which was probably longer than the bus ride would have been. After their prolonged protest, the people still ended up leaving the plane, walked onto a bus, and headed home to Paris -- a place they could have been hours ago had they not been so completely and utterly stubborn. *

Our stubbornness often leads to personal misery and causes us to miss out on some good things – even the greatest things – in life.  The greatest loss that we experience comes when our stubbornness keeps us from surrendering our lives to God’s will.

“The Lord is not SLOW in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is PATIENT with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9).  God “desires ALL men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 2:4).

It is God’s Will that each and every one of us live eternally with Him.  He has even provided the WAY to eternal life through His Son, Jesus (John 14:6).  When our sins and stubborn wills condemned us to destruction (see Matthew 7:13-14), God sent His Son to die on the cross to pay the price for our redemption (Ephesians 1:7) and open up the Way to eternal life (Hebrews 10:19-20).

But WE have a choice in the matter…  We must relinquish our stubborn wills and submit to His plan.  In order to be saved and have eternal life, we must place our faith and trust in Jesus (Acts 16:30-31), turn from our sin and stubbornness in repentance (Acts 17:30-31), confess Jesus before men (Romans 10:9-10), and be baptized (immersed) into Christ for the forgiveness of our sins (Acts 2:38).  Then, we must continue to “walk in the light” of His revealed Will in the Scriptures.  As we do so, the blood of Jesus continues to cleanse us from sin (1 John 1:7).

Our stubborn wills bring us nothing but distress and destruction!  But if we yield our wills to God’s will, we can experience the abundant life now and eternal life to come.

Let’s STOP being so stubborn and yield our wills to God’s will, so that we might know and follow the Way to Heaven.

Won’t YOU?

David A. Sargent, Minister