You were wearied with the length of your way, but you did not say, “It is hopeless”; you found new life for your strength, and so you were not faint. Isaiah 57:10
Isaiah is describing the stubborn heart. If you are battling an addiction, or you love someone who is, you know exactly what Isaiah is talking about here. You know this is killing you, but you still do it. The sinner gets tired and wearied of his sin, but he will not give it up. He finds strength and energy to repeat the same destructive behavior again and again.
Sin is a great mystery. It makes no sense. Why would you do again something that made you miserable the last time you did it? The stubborn heart is never contrite. The stubborn heart says, “I know this is killing me, but I am going to do it anyway.”
Let’s not limit this to addictions: You can have a stubborn heart even when you are studying the Bible or at seminary. Jesus said to the Pharisees: “You search the Scriptures… yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life” (John 5:39–40).
That’s a stubborn heart! The problem that alienates you from God is not on God’s side. The roadblock that stands in the way of God coming to us is the stubbornness of our own hearts.
Is there a sin you are tired and weary of, but you won’t give it up? Will you ask God to soften your stubborn heart?
