sfdx force:org:create ...
sfdx force:source:push
rm force-app/main/default/objects/Account/fields/Invalid_Field__c.field-meta.xml
sfdx force:source:push
sfdx force:org:open ...
This simple repo is designed to show the force:source:push problem. If you follow the steps above precisely, then view the Object Manager for this org, you'll see that Account.Valid_Field__c is not created in the org, and cannot be pushed without modifying it or clearing the cache using:
rm -r .sfdx/orgs/
sfdx force:source:push
As a more complicated concept, imagine that there's a Visualforce page that failed to push because of Account.Invalid_Field__c not pushing; this means that you have to clear the cache to force the push to happen. Using -f or -g will have no effect, because the system thinks the file has already been pushed, and has not been modified.
The problem appears to be that .sfdx/orgs/username/*.json files are being updated for failed elements,
so they must be modified or the cache cleared in order to proceed. Clearing the cache with some odd
few thousand elements significantly delays the next push, as well, so this behavior is undesirable.