Lately God has been bringing me to Ezekiel 3:14, again and again. I seem to land on this passage once or twice a week. Earlier in this chapter, Ezekiel has a powerful God-Encounter, and is given his commission to go preach to the house of Israel. He is warned that they will NOT receive his message, but he is to go preach to them anyway. The NIV, the New International Version says:
The Spirit lifted me up and took me away, and I went in bitterness and in the anger of my spirit, with the strong hand of the LORD upon me.
But The Message puts a slightly different nuance to it:
The Spirit lifted me and took me away. I went bitterly and angrily. I didn't want to go. But God had me in his grip.
Sometimes we find ourselves in situations where it is time to go. Often, it's because God is directing us to go TO a new assignment. Maybe, like Ezekiel, we are in the middle of a glorious spiritual mountain-top experience. We are experiencing a great move of God, and we don't want to leave this place of joy and comfort. Or maybe we are in the place where God previously placed us, and we are fat, dumb and happy. Life is good, God is doing stuff through us, and we couldn't be better. But suddenly, God gives us a new direction or a new assignment, and we don't like it!
The prophet Jonah is a prime example. God gave him marching orders to go preach to Nineveh, but he ran the other way. A storm came, a big fish swallowed Jonah and then vomited him on dry land, and then he FINALLY went to Nineveh. But like Ezekiel, he wasn't happy about it. He went in bitterness and anger in his spirit, but the strong hand of the Lord was on him.
Other times, we are in situations where it is time to go-- not because God is specifically calling us to a new assignment, but because the old has ended. If we linger, we will be in the way. I was in that situation once. I liked being there- I was happy! But now I was in the way of what God was about to do, and it was time to go. But because I wasn't leaving willingly, God removed me.
"... I went bitterly and angrily. I didn't want to go. But GOD had me in his grip."
It SUCKED. Pain, pain, pain. Later, God explained it to me with a picture. He showed me a partially completed jigsaw puzzle. The edges were placed, and some of the interior pieces were in place, fit against the edge. But there was one piece, sitting by itself in the empty middle space. I knew immediately that this piece didn't fit with any of the other pieces currently on the board, and it was in the way. The One putting the puzzle together needed to move that piece out of the way so they could continue fitting pieces together. I was that piece. I didn't fit into this part of the puzzle. I was in the way of what God was doing. Since I wasn't willing to move, He actively moved me and then went on about the business of fitting pieces together.
God will move you like that if you're good and stubborn. (Not me!) We don't like being moved. It's untidy. Our organized applecart -- our mission and purpose-- is upended and fruit is rolling all over the supermarket floor. People are noticing that we no longer have it together, and it's embarrassing!
So maybe God is moving you on. Perhaps it's away from somewhere where you're happy, to a new place of unknowns. We don't like unknowns. They're scary! But unknows are part of life- part of our faith life. Holocaust survivor Corrie Ten Boom once commented that "We can trust an unknown future to a known God."
I notice in Romans 15:28 that Paul is telling his trip plans to the believers in Rome. He intends to take a love offering to the church in Jerusalem first, and then to stop by and see them in Rome on his way to Spain. Paul has big plans! Except, God's plans were slightly different... Paul had planned a brief visit on his way to his true destination. But God planned for Paul to have a two year stay, culminating in his personal witness to Caesar. God told SOME of his plans to Paul-- that hard times and trouble awaited him in Jerusalem. But it's not recorded that God told him how it was all going to end.
God doesn't tell us everything. He doesn't show us all the pieces, because HE is putting the puzzle together, not us. We don't get to see the big picture until the end. He wants us to trust Him-- to trust that he knows what he is doing, and that he will help us though whatever hardships these new assignments bring.
We can trust an unknown future to a known God.
Thank you for this word! I’ve been doing puzzles in the past few days. (Lol, must be God). I totally relate to this. I’m in an assignment I can’t leave and must stay, (a little opposite of illustration, but the same). I need to give God the Glory , let Him do the work and accept the assignment. Love & prayers always my Brother in Christ.