August 21

Ezekiel 24

I found today's passage unsettling and I'm sure a lot of you did also. God was trying to send a powerful message to Judah about the suffering that was to come. God told Ezekiel that He was going to take away the delight of his eyes. Then his wife died. On top of that, God told him that he was not allowed to mourn. This was a sign of what was to come for the people of Judah. They were going to lose everything important to them and they were not doing to have the chance to mourn their loss.

I find this unsettling because at first glance it seems that God killed Ezekiel's wife just to prove a point. I'm sure there are people who read this and think, "How can God be loving if He causes death and suffering?" Part of me cannot help but wonder that as well.

There are somethings that we need to realize about God in order to attempt to wrap our minds around this passage.

~ God loves unconditionally. Period. End of story. God loved Ezekiel and his wife more than we could possibly comprehend. Every detail of their lives was important to God, including the way they suffered and died. Even though she died and Ezekiel could not mourn, it doesn't change the fact that God loved them.

~ God has a plan and we may not be able to understand it right away. What Ezekiel went through may seem cruel. But God had a plan for both of them that was meant to increase His glory. They were in the palm of His loving hand the whole time, even if we don't understand what happened.

~ Following God will cost you something and loving us cost God something too. Being God's prophet cost Ezekiel his wife. But God Himself would one day give up His Son because He loves us. We need to remember that when we experience the cost of following God: He has experienced loss as well and knows what we are going through.