Isaiah 48:4 “’Because I know that you are obstinate, and your neck is an iron sinew and your forehead bronze,’”

JUST LISTEN

I know some hard-headed people, myself excluded, of course. Lol. Have you ever been accused of being hard-headed? The Lord is calling the people of Israel that right here in this verse. They were obstinate, stick necked and hard-headed. Wow! Talking about calling names – the Lord does that here.

The Lord is about to lead them into exile for their hard-headedness. Look at these two verses later in the chapter. “18 ‘If only you had paid attention to My commandments! Then your well-being would have been like a river, And your righteousness like the waves of the sea. 19 Your descendants would have been like the sand, And your offspring like its grains; Their name would never be cut off or destroyed from My presence.’” He wanted to bless them, but they just refused to listen.

TEACHING MOMENT

Do you have a hard-headed child? Maybe they are strong willed. Most of the time those children can grow up to be strong leaders who aren’t afraid to make the tough decisions. They can be self confident and sure of themselves. Don’t you want them to be that way? But we have to steer them in the right way to make those decisions. Strong willed children can be a challenge. They can be obstinate, stiff necked and hard-headed, just like Israel. We have to hold them accountable for their actions. We bless them for the right ones and discipline them for the wrong ones. Don’t be afraid to do that.

Whenever possible, let those strong willed kids make their own decisions. Explain to them the possible outcomes of their decisions. They have to live with them. Even if the outcome is not the one you want for them, if it is not life threatening, give them room to make the wrong decision. Yep, I said that. That is hard. We want to avoid those uncomfortable situations. But we have to let them make their decisions or they will never learn how to do that. It is much better for those decisions to be made while they have you to direct them.

Trust the Lord that He loves your children much more than you do. He wants what is best. Point them in His direction and let Him has His perfect will done in their lives. Only He can make them compliant, flexible and clear headed.