Make room

“But they did not obey or incline their ear, but walked in their own counsels and the stubbornness of their evil hearts, and went backward and not forward.” (Jeremiah 7:24, ESV)

There’s a fable about two goats frisking gaily on the rocky steeps of a mountain valley, chanced to meet, one on each side of a deep chasm through which poured a mighty mountain torrent. The trunk of a fallen tree formed the only means of crossing the chasm, and on this not even two squirrels could have passed each other in safety. The narrow path would have made the bravest tremble but not these two goats. Their pride would not permit either to stand aside for the other. One set her foot on the log. The other did likewise. In the middle they met horn to horn. Neither would give way, and so they both fell, to be swept away by the roaring waters below.

Stubbornness is hard on relationships, which can cause one individual to feel they have a controlling partner or both parties constantly buck heads, neither making room for the other, as in the case of the goats.

The remedy for stubbornness is a responsive and tender heart. We then learn to understand that just because it’s not being done the way we want or envision it, doesn’t mean that we have lost anything. We are just moving aside so that the other person can get by. We are giving space to consider another’s opinion, experience, feelings, and emotions so that we both feel heard and seen and prevent the relationship from falling into the roaring waters. 

​GiGi❤️