Hardheaded

Acts 21:24

And when he would not be persuaded, we ceased, saying, The will of the Lord be done.

Paul had a great burden for the Jews, but his burden also caused him to ignore the Holy Spirit trying to stop him. Paul wanted to go to Jerusalem with a Jewish vow to observe the feast of the Passover. First, Paul had no business observing this feast because Christ is our Passover. Second, he ignored the Holy Spirit speaking to him through several people because he was hardheaded and had already determined he was going no matter what tried to stop him or who tried to discourage him. The result of being hardheaded was that he was taken captive, and never again had the freedom to go wherever the Lord wanted him to go. He was at the mercy of a jailor and the courts to witness for Christ in Rome. Though he got to Rome and was a great witness everywhere he went, we will never know what God would have done through his life had he not been so obstinate about observing this feast.

Everyone is hardheaded to some degree. When you become hardheaded, it does not matter what reality says or who is cautioning you to do something or not to do it; you tend to go ahead and do it. Being hardheaded can be a great hindrance to God doing a work through your life. Let me share several observations about the positives and negatives of being hardheaded and how to keep it from hindering you from doing God’s work.

First, being hardheaded about truth and the Lord’s work is not a bad thing. If you are not hardheaded about truth and the Lord’s work, you will quickly be pulled away from truth when something that feels better comes your way. You should be hardheaded when it comes to doctrine and doing right, for that is your protection against compromise.

Second, let your hardheadedness be guided by the Scriptures. You are safe as long as the Scriptures support what you want to do or believe. The Scriptures are our final authority on all that we are to do and believe, and to be so hardheaded that we won't listen to the Scriptures will only cause us to go astray. Whenever the Scriptures conflict with what we are hardheaded about, you must swallow your pride and obey the Scriptures if you want to continue doing the right thing.

Third, always ask God to do whatever it takes to stop you if what you are focused on is the wrong thing. I have prayed many times to ask God to stop me if what I am doing is wrong. My reason for praying this way is because once I make up my mind, it takes God shutting it down to stop me. I want God to stop me from doing something that which is not His will. Asking God to stop you no matter what He has to do from doing something that will pull you out of His will is key to staying in God’s will.

Fourth, when God stops you, don't forge your way forward despite His stepping in to stop you. Many people have gotten out of God’s will or have done something to their hurt because they were too hardheaded to see God was trying to stop them. God just might be causing you to wait for a better time, so don't be hardheaded and push forward. The best thing to do when God stops you is not to push forward, but to pray and ask God if this is a waiting period or a complete stoppage of what you wanted to do. These four steps will help you not to let being hardheadedness from harming you.