Don't Stop Believing.

Fun fact about me: I have a bit of a stubborn streak.

Here's a brief story from my childhood to illustrate. Once upon a time, when I was somewhere between the ages of four and six, there was a scary waterslide at a pool we often visited. One day, my parents decided that I needed to conquer my fears, and thus began bribing me to go down the slide. I refused. The more I resisted, the more extravagant the bribes became: ice cream, money, a kitten, a puppy, a pony. Still, I would not yield. 

A week later, I chose to go down the slide all on my own, with no incentive whatsoever. Looking back, I kinda wish I had chosen the pony.

I usually view my stubbornness as a fault of mine that needs working on. It doesn't always work to my benefit. Being stubborn can be costly. If you don't believe me, just ask Jonah.

But that's not really what I want to focus on today. Because there's a flip side to this issue--a way to use the powers of stubbornness for good instead of evil. 

In my devotional this morning, I came across a curious phrase: "a stubborn insistence on acknowledging that God is good." I love that. It makes me think of a little kid, stamping his foot, believing against all odds that he is right, and challenging anyone to disagree. 

Stubbornness is irrational. It clings to what it knows or wants or believes regardless of the evidence presented against it. It might be called naive, ignorant, or narrow-minded. It isn't swayed by the opinions of others; in fact, the more pressure that is placed upon it, the deeper it digs in.

Obviously, I'm not saying we approach all of life this way. Some Christians do, and because of it, I think many of them miss out on the rule-defying, box-breaking intricacies and mysteries of God.

But. What if we put on this attitude towards the Enemy, about the things we knew to be true? Like the fact that God is good. What if, in the midst of the darkest of circumstances, we stubbornly refused to believe Satan's lies that our God has abandoned us? What if we were like Job, who stubbornly praised his Maker even when his own wife told him to curse God and die? What if, against all odds, against all the impossibilities that rise up against us, we chose to stubbornly cling to the promises of God, refusing to let go, defying the Enemy to break the faith we have in the One who rescues us?

C'mon, kids. I think it's time to put our stubbornness to good use. It's time to put up a fight for what we believe in.