Arguing With Myself...And Losing

Okay, so Jeff Dunham the ventrioquist said that first, but as a fiction writer I can relate. I am currently working on the fourth book of my Reboot Files Series. The first two came pretty easy. My second book, The Island of Living Trees, I am planning on releasing in May 2011. It was the third one, The Harbinger of Retribution (great title huh?) is coming out a few months after that, but it was that book I started running into issues with the characters.
I was wondering, do you other fiction writers ever find your characters rebelling against you? The ingrates, you create them and then they won't cooperate!
Look, I know it's really just me, myself and I, but it goes something like this. I get the plot going into a certain direction, and then one of my characters starts protesting, "I wouldn't do that."
"But I need you to do that" I argue with myself.
The character retorts, "I don't care, I still wouldn't do that. You didn't write me that way."
"But you have to do it," I insist, "Otherwise I will have to tear out pages, and I hate tearing out pages. I worked hard to write those pages!"
The character, however, simply states, "You're the writer, but make me and see what happens."
Of course what happens is the plot goes offline and I have to tear out those pages I tried so hard to protect. Worse, it does put the plot back online. But at least my characters shut up. Untll I do another plot point they don't like.
Which begs the question, why do I argue with myself when I'm right? Especially when you consider that if I would just listen to myself in the first place this writing thing would go a lot more smoothly.
Oh man, now I'm confusing myself.
It's times like this where I am certain that the Lord created me to be a writer. Because it's hard to argue with youself, and lose.
Oh, and in case you wondered what the fourth book is called I've titled it "The Wrong Ghost".
Pretty appropropriate.