Manthano: Words Worth Carrying

“Don’t let the enemy make you feel shame for your past relationship not working. God knew it wouldn’t be long-term with Rachel, and He was already telling secrets about that to Heather… but take comfort knowing that He wasn’t troubled because you two were together. He was okay with it going on for two years and chose not to interrupt it because He wanted it to be a part of your story...”

“I’ve seen you growing exponentially through this! Even just six months ago, a mission to the wilderness of Africa is something you never would have signed up for, and now you’re about to go to every airport in the world and you’re feeling totally ready to trust God in this adventure. The way you’ve changed from it is so rewarding and you can thank God for using it.”

“...yeah, even with our backpacking trip, you impressed me and Luke and Connor. It’s not that you couldn’t physically do all that before, but something shifted in your confidence and your integrity for how you take on responsibilities.”

“When you meet the woman that the Lord tailored just for you, she isn’t going to say ‘why did you spend two years in a relationship with someone else?’ She’s going to be so grateful because of the man that you became through it, and how that prepared you to love her.”

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Then King David went in and sat before the Lord and said, “Who am I, O Lord God, and what is my house, that you have brought me thus far? And this was a small thing in your eyes, O God. You have also spoken of your servant’s house for a great while to come, and have shown me future generations, O Lord God!” 

- 1 Chronicles 17:16-17

There is a seed of courage hidden (often deeply, it is true) in the heart of the fattest and most timid hobbit, waiting for some final and desperate danger to make it grow. Frodo was neither very fat nor very timid; indeed, though he did know it, Bilbo (and Gandalf) had thought him the best hobbit in the Shire. He thought he had come to the end of his adventure, and a terrible end, but the thought hardened him. He found himself stiffening, as if for a final spring; he no longer felt limp like a helpless prey. 

-The Fellowship of the Ring

Manthano: Centurion

In my daily Bible reading, I've now worked through 33 chapters of Ezekiel. After reading Lamentations, I was told that these oracles of the LORD would offer a more hopeful message... and I think I agree it does, but not at all as I originally expected it would.

The book opens with spectacular visions (four creatures with four faces as the chariot wheels of a heavenly throne) and peculiar signs (re-enacting Jerusalem's imminent downfall on a Lego-scale of bricks and dirt). God gives Ezekiel a commission, but also fair warning-- these people are a rebellious house who will mock and glower and refuse to listen, but speak boldly! The son of man is then given a scroll of mourning, lamentation, and woe to ingest - which somehow tastes as sweet as honey in the mouth - and sent out as Israel's watchmen to utter the LORD's impending judgment.

Mourning and lamentation and woe, indeed. These summarize the meat of the prophetic book, in which God rages against Israel in a way directly compared with a betrayed husband.

The children of Abraham now have whoring hearts, trusting in the possession of their land and the security of foreign armies. They lean on might and self-righteousness, so that they may pursue idols and every injustice. They listen to Ezekiel as someone who shares quaint proverbs and nice sounding words... not actually listening or doing what they are told.

God says He will spend all His fury-- bringing a sword against those in the cities, wild beasts against the survivors in the wilderness, and plague against any who hide in caves or strongholds. When their nation is humiliated in the sight of all other nations, and the remnant is completely exiled from their promised land... then they will know that the God of Israel is the LORD.

How does the book, then, offer a hopeful message?

In some small portions there is hope - saying that God will leave a remnant, and He will give them a new heart to truly be His obedient chosen people, and His longing is for wicked people to turn back to Him - but these glimmers do not account for the book in its entirety.

Instead, I've learned to search for hope even within the most dark and wrathful chapters. Our God is not satisfied with our selfish hypocrisy, and will discipline us with any affliction necessary so that we will wholly belong to Him. Our God is in control over the greatest empires, using their destruction at times but impartially judging how they treat His beloved people. Our God can be encountered in places of shame and suffering.

Although I've written far less analytical entries in my journey through Ezekiel, it did encourage me to compose personal reflections, a devotional poem, and this overview blog post. It made me love God more for His jealousy and wrath. I've hated sin more and adopted a more bold attitude in the face of opposition. I've contemplated how my own nation fits the same motifs of self-reliance and rebellion, while also resting in the comfort that God's people (even in the U.S.) are today given regenerate hearts and made new creations.

I think most of all, the LORD's communication through Ezekiel renews my courage as I move forward from my own bittersweet humiliation, and awakens a passion to make Jesus known among distant, desolate lands and defeated banners.