Then this message came to me from the Lord: “Son of man, with one blow I will take away your dearest treasure. Yet you must not show any sorrow at her death. Do not weep; let there be no tears.
So I proclaimed this to the people the next morning, and in the evening my wife died. The next morning I did everything I had been told to do. Ezekiel 24:1-16, 18 NLT
As I've read through the prophets this year, I've been amazed at their faithfulness, reminded that the Lord has never asked anything so difficult of me. I always question if I would have responded with such unwavering obedience, as Isaiah did when God told him to take off his clothes and walk around naked, or as Jeremiah did when the Lord told him to lie on one side for months on end, cooking his meals on a fire fueled by dung.
In all honesty, I don't think that I would have done it. And what that says about my faith bothers me.
But this morning's reading in Ezekiel crushed me. As a sign to the people of Judah, God allowed Ezekiel's wife to die! And because the Lord had so commanded him, Ezekiel did not outwardly mourn for his wife, his "dearest treasure." He did not allow himself to receive consolation from his friends. Instead, he delivered a message.
This story just makes my heart ache! I cannot fathom the level of loss Ezekiel must have felt, nor do I understand the kind of trust he must have had in the Lord. All I can think of is, "Why?"
Why?
Ezekiel was serving the Lord. He was doing what God told him to do. He had been living the uncomfortable life of a prophet while the people around him had just been living self-serving lives. To my way of thinking, I would like to have seen God just really bless Ezekiel for his faithful service.
But clearly, my way of thinking is not God's way of thinking. God didn't bless Ezekiel as reward for his faithfulness. God took his wife away from him.
I just don't get it!
Truthfully, I don't think I want to "get it." I don't want to take the time to really think on this matter. I want to just skim over it and continue reading. There are plenty of verses in Scripture to encourage me if I just read on...
But today I cannot just skim over it. Today, God is calling me to consider this story.
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As often is the case, circumstances of life interrupt my thoughts - the ones in my head, as well as the ones I try to write and share. In the two days since I began writing this thought, I've had some moments to ponder Ezekiel's loss. As I have continued reading in the book of Ezekiel, it seems that the prophet just carried on with life - business as usual, so to speak. He delivered warning messages from the Lord to the people, cities, and nations around him. There's nothing in Ezekiel's prophesies that gives me any further insight into the loss of his wife.
But my Bible reading plan contains daily readings from both the Old and New Testaments, so as I am reading Ezekiel, I also happen to be reading Hebrews. And this morning in Hebrews 11, I think I found as much of an answer is there is to be found. The writer of Hebrews is telling stories of the "heroes of faith," and he tells us in verses 33-35 of those who experienced great victories in their lives, even up to the raising of the dead. The writer then moves on in verses 36-38 about heroes who suffered and died for their faith. There is no real transition between the victorious and the suffering, nor explanation as to why some "won" and some "lost."
Hebrews 11:39a tells us, though, that "All these people earned a good reputation because of their faith.."
At the heart of it all lies a very basic, but important, lesson in the sovereignty of God. God calls us to live lives of faithfulness. He has promised to bless us, but He has not promised that those blessings will come in this life. Sometimes they do; sometimes they do not. But the presence or lack of earthly blessings is not a good indicator of one's faith.
The common denominator of the heroes of faith is found earlier in Hebrews 11. Obviously, FAITH is the things all of the heroes held in common. Faith. Faith is that confidence that though I may not see with my eyes or understand with my heart, there is a future for me where God's promises will be fulfilled in ways that are beyond my current level of comprehension.
It is a call to trust God. No matter what.
Whatever comes my way in life - whether struggles or blessings, life or death - is bigger than me. To be quite blunt, I am incidental. Whatever happens to me simply serves the purposes of God.
Ezekiel understood that.
I believe there is freedom in that kind of faith.
But it's a faith that scares me. I say that I want the "no matter what" kind of faith, but what I actually want is my life and my family in that nice safe "hedge of protection" that I pray over them.
Given the things that are happening in our world of late, I think it's fair to say that the Lord is calling us to a "no matter what" faith in Him. Rather than living in the "what if" of pandemics and politics, I believe we are entering a season where "even if" must become our pattern of thought. This is what will distinguish faith from folly.
It's a strong and scary thought, but it is...
...Just a thought...
