Subtitle: What Happens When God Insists on Obedience

Excerpt: God is not always a gentleman and may insist on obedience, even if it means becoming an adversary. This insistence is not out of cruelty but a desire for His people to return to Him.

Author: Ogo Cathern

If you are like me, you may have heard this said over and over again: God is a gentleman; He would never force you.

That statement sounds comforting — but it isn’t entirely true.

After walking with God for some time now, there is one thing I do not encourage: speaking in absolutes when defining what God will or will not do. Any time we do that, we reduce God to something manageable, predictable, and safe.

This is why I encourage believers to read their Bibles — not necessarily to understand God (because that is never going to happen), but to gain a working knowledge of His acts.

Scripture tells us plainly that His ways and His thoughts are higher than ours (Isaiah 55:8–9). If we cannot fully grasp Him, then the safest posture is humility — not certainty.

Jonah and the Myth of “God Will Just Find Someone Else”

One of the earliest and clearest examples of God insisting is found in the book of Jonah.

Jonah was a prophet. God sent him to warn the people of Nineveh about impending judgment because of their sin. Jonah, however, exercised his free will and chose rebellion. Instead of going to Nineveh, he ran in the opposite direction — to Tarshish.

God did not say, “That’s fine, Jonah. I’ll raise someone else.”

Instead, God insisted.

He sent a storm.
He turned nature against the ship.
He pursued Jonah across land and sea.

Some would say this was simply the consequence of Jonah’s disobedience — but I disagree.

A consequence is a natural reaction to an action.
What Jonah experienced was supernatural interference.

God was not reacting.
God was insisting.

When God Works Against the Work of Your Hands

Fast forward to the book of Haggai.

God’s people had abandoned His house and redirected their attention to personal comfort and self-preservation. Their priorities shifted — subtly at first, then fully.

So God responded in a way that still makes many uncomfortable.

He put holes in their pockets.
He spoiled the work of their hands.
He ensured that their labor produced no satisfaction.

That was not a consequence.
That was divine insistence.

God was forcing their attention back to Himself — not because He is cruel, but because He refuses to be replaced.

When God Becomes Your Adversary

Scripture tells us plainly that God can become an adversary to His own people (see Numbers 22:22).

And this is where the message becomes personal.

After God delivered me from abuse and brought me to the United States, He blessed the work of my hands. I had what I needed. Provision was present.

And I became comfortable.
Then complacent.
Then rebellious.

Scripture says, “Jeshurun grew fat and kicked” (Deuteronomy 32:15).

That verse became my reality.

God became my adversary.
Nothing I touched prospered.
I failed — even in areas where I was once skilled.

I was reduced. Not because God hated me — but because He insisted on me.

Prolonged Suffering and Missed Signals

In His lovingkindness, God created opportunity after opportunity for me to discern what was happening. Gentle nudges. Quiet warnings. Interrupted plans.

But I was bent on doing things my way.

So my suffering was prolonged.

It was not until I reached the end of myself that God brought the book of Haggai back to my remembrance — and I realized something sobering:

I was one of those people.

Is God Insisting on You?

Are you going through something similar?

Everything around you is failing.
Nothing seems to work.
It feels as though life itself is resisting you.

If it seems like life is deliberately working against you, consider this carefully:

God may be insisting on you.

Ignorance is not an excuse — but mercy is the reason you are reading this now.

God, in His compassion, places truth in our hands so that we may be delivered from destruction (Haggai 4:6).

A Call to Honest Introspection

This is a call to tell yourself the truth.

Assess what is happening in your life.
Ask the hard questions.
Search without defensiveness.

Where am I living in rebellion against God?

Jesus said, “You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:32).

Freedom often begins where resistance ends.

God insists — not to destroy you, but to restore you.