rocky resistance

In Stephen's message given in his defense before the Sanhedrin, he says of his people, You stiff-necked people!  Your hearts and ears are still uncircumcised.  You are just like your ancestors: you always resist the Holy Spirit! (Acts 7:51).  And indeed, the record of the Hebrew people as recorded in the Scriptures depicts stony hearts resisting The Presence and The Will of God.  The hearts of the Sanhedrin are also hardened towards God and Stephen, as they resist God's message from one whose tender heart prays for their forgiveness even as they stone him.

Sad to say, you and I are afflicted with the same rocky resistance.  How often has God given us some clear direction from His Word and/or Spirit, only to have us resisting?  I'm not talking about the questioning resistance of the Virgin Mary when she was asked to bear the Son of God, or that of Ananias when he was sent to pray for the murderous Saul.  Such questioning, even "doubting," is understandable, even welcomed by God in order that we might come to true faith in Him and His Call.  What I'm talking about here is full-out resistance, a clear "no" to what God is asking for.

If so, we're still in good company.  On three occasions, the Apostle Peter, "The Rock" of faith, flat-out said "no" to Jesus.  When Jesus told His disciples that He would suffer and die, Peter responded Never, Lord! This shall never happen to you! (Matthew 22). Later, when Jesus intended to wash Peter's feet, Peter said, No, You shall never wash my feet! (John 13:8).  And after Jesus' Ascension, when Peter received a vision in which Jesus commanded him to kill and eat non-kosher food, Peter said, Surely not, Lord!  I have never eaten anything impure or unclean (Acts 10:14).  

Now, if I were God, I might have been tempted to blast Peter for such impetuousness.  Perhaps this is one more reason why you can be glad that I'm not the Almighty.  For in each case, God responds firmly but gently, redirecting Peter's resistance in such a way that he comes not just to comply but to assent to what God is asking for.  In fact, as Jesus said of Nathaniel's joke about how no Messiah could come out of Nazareth, it's just possible that God is blessed by Peter in whom there is also no guile (John 1:47).  It may be that, in Peter's case, and perhaps in yours and mine, God may turn our rocky resistance into softened hearts that demonstrate that rock-solid faith in The One Who is The Rock on Whom we can stand.