Ezekiel 2:6-7

We all want to be loved, and listened to with joy and appreciation. But any servant of God also needs to be ready to keep going whatever the response to their message. Ezekiel was told by God that he needed to be ready for the worst possible reaction. I have very little experience of living with threats, but I can imagine how painful and trying it must be. To be surrounded with threats “like nettles, briers and stinging scorpions” sounds terrible - and if you have ever lived in the tropics with the constant potential threat of scorpions, you will get the point! They are often very small, but their sting is terrible.

God told Ezekiel not to be afraid or dismayed, both of which seem like perfectly reasonable responses to overwhelming threat. Ezekiel needed to know that he was doing God’s work - and so he had no need to be afraid or dismayed. If ministering to the exiles had been his own idea, and he had been doing it in his own strength, fear and dismay may have been the inevitable consequence.

But when we are working for God, we know we have the almighty, all-loving, all-knowing creator of the universe constantly with us, strengthening us and enabling us to be strong and at peace.

There are many who are firmly opposed to people of faith, and who are keen for us to be restricted, if not actually silenced. They will tell us that faith should be kept as a private matter. But we know that we are called to be salt and light, and to bring God’s blessings to the whole of society in a very public way. The world’s materialistic agenda is fundamentally different from God’s and we must expect to live with constant challenges. At times, this may be personal and deeply painful. That should not come as a surprise to us. But God is with us, by the power of his Spirit, every step of the way. Like Ezekiel, we must trust God and speak his truth, whether people love or loathe us.

QUESTION
In what ways have you felt threatened because of your Christian faith? If you have never felt threatened, why do you think that is so?

PRAYER
Lord God, thank you for the wisdom and strength that you give me as a I serve you each day. Amen

Released on 17 Jul 2023