Pushy people of the Bible

I have noticed that God likes people who don't take no for an answer. Remember the Syrophoenician woman? She asked Jesus to drive a demon from her daughter. Jesus said "it is not right to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs" (Mark 7:27). That kind of remark effectively weeded out the "mildly interested" from the "desperate for God." God likes the second kind.

The angel of the Lord wrestled with Jacob through the night and then said, "Let me go, for the day has broken" (Exodus 32:26). Jacob replied, "I won't let you go unless you bless me." Where did he get the nerve? Why wasn't he struck dead?

Elisha told King Joash to smite the ground a few swift smacks with his arrows to ensure victory against the Syrians. (God was testing him to see how badly he wanted it.) That wimpy monarch struck the earth three times and then quit; the prophet was upset. Middling desire yields middling deliverance, and Joash would receive from the Lord partial but not total victory.

Abraham got feisty when God said he was headed down to destroy Sodom. The Patriarch got the Lord to grant concessions (Genesis 18). Moses also pushed back when God said He was going to destroy Israel because they were a worthless bunch of complainers (Numbers 14). He got the Lord to relent. He also said he wouldn't take one step toward the Promised Land unless the Lord went with him (Exodus 32). Request granted.

There is disrespectful talk-back and then there is the talk-back God loves. Like anybody else, He just wants to know you really mean it when you say you love Him.