Day 171: What Do You Need in Exile? Hazak. Hazak. Strength of God and Community.

Today we read Isaiah 39-40 and Ezekiel 1-3. We are reading in Ezekiel how God is and can give strength through His word, His message and in this story Ezekiel is being commissioned more or less on his 30th birthday as a prophet to Israel while sitting by an irrigation canal in a refugee camp in Babylon. This was a sharp change from his plans to become a priest in Jerusalem. We learn about God’s presence in a vision to Ezekiel and the last toll of warning, a second wave of Israelites will be taken from Jerusalem to Babylon and this time, Jerusalem will be destroyed. In our reading of Isaiah, we also get a glimpse of the “after” exile response of God to renew strength, to restore their home, to comfort and yet, the Israelites are signaling doubt and accusation against God based assumingly on their suffering in exile. For some reason, I think back to the story of Job where I’m reminded of the lesson where we can always bring our doubts and questions to God, He may or may not answer them they way we want to because He is wisdom itself. God is goodness itself and we are reminded here, we cannot fathom His understanding. Yet we can rest in the knowledge He shares and repeats in His word that He pursues and cares for us like a Shepherd. He will not let evil and suffering endure. He will strengthen the weary and increase the power of the weak. God will renew strength and give us the wings to soar. Do we have the heart posture to follow Him, trust in Him, even in the storms, trials, and exile?

 

Credits

Podcast music by Stockaudios from Pixabay. Speaker, Dr. Rachel Bodell. Podcast Sound Engineer, Alan Darling. Podcast Artwork, Will Gerard.