“But you, son of man, hear what I say to you. Be not rebellious like that rebellious house; open your mouth and eat what I give you.” And when I looked, behold, a hand was stretched out to me, and behold, a scroll of a book was in it. And he spread it before me. And it had writing on the front and on the back, and there were written on it words of lamentation and mourning and woe.
And he said to me, “Son of man, eat whatever you find here. Eat this scroll, and go, speak to the house of Israel.” So I opened my mouth, and he gave me this scroll to eat. And he said to me, “Son of man, feed your belly with this scroll that I give you and fill your stomach with it.” Then I ate it, and it was in my mouth as sweet as honey.
And he said to me, “Son of man, go to the house of Israel and speak with my words to them. For you are not sent to a people of foreign speech and a hard language, but to the house of Israel—not to many peoples of foreign speech and a hard language, whose words you cannot understand. Surely, if I sent you to such, they would listen to you. But the house of Israel will not be willing to listen to you, for they are not willing to listen to me: because all the house of Israel have a hard forehead and a stubborn heart. Behold, I have made your face as hard as their faces, and your forehead as hard as their foreheads. Like emery harder than flint have I made your forehead. Fear them not, nor be dismayed at their looks, for they are a rebellious house.” Moreover, he said to me, “Son of man, all my words that I shall speak to you receive in your heart, and hear with your ears. And go to the exiles, to your people, and speak to them and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD,’ whether they hear or refuse to hear.” (Ezekiel 2:8-3:11 ESV)
Go and speak whether they will hear or refuse to hear… You must go to your people and tell them what I have told you, what I have placed inside of you whether they want to hear it or not. They will know either way that a prophet has come to them and they have heard the word of the Lord.
But will they know they heard the word of the Lord? If someone doesn’t accept what we say when we know what we have to speak is from the Lord, do they know a prophet has been in their midst? Do we know when we are not listening or running from God? And how many times do we do that? We think we know what God wants for us and what His mission is. And usually if we would really stop and think about it, what we say God wants us to do is really what we want to do and it has nothing to do with God, but everything to do with our own plans and our own preservation.
God says to Ezekiel eat what I give you. Do not ask for pizza when I give you broccoli. Just eat what you have been given because this is where we are going. This is my plan and it doesn’t really matter if it fits what you think should happen or even if you like it. Just eat it and do it. And if you cry and whine and look out for yourself, my will and mission will still happen, but it is better to eat it now while it is hot before it gets cold…
Do not question what God gives you. It may not be sweet now, but it is the best thing you could ever want. Trust him, he knows what he is doing.
aSacredRebel 