SET YOUR FACE LIKE A FLINT

Ezekiel 3:9 KJ2000
Like adamant harder than flint have I made your forehead: fear them not, neither be dismayed at their looks, though they are a rebellious house.

Dear Believer,

Ezekiel, like some other prophets in the Old Testament, had an unusual ministry. He was sent to people who weren’t interested in listening to his message.

God had given him a heads up, though. He was told at the beginning of his call

Ezekiel 3:7 KJ2000
But the house of Israel will not hearken unto you; for they will not hearken unto me: for all the house of Israel are impudent and hard-hearted.

Why would God send someone to people He knew wouldn’t listen to his message?

It is so that at the end when they would be judged for their rebellion, they would have no excuse.

Well, doesn’t God care about the success and sanity of the messenger?

He does, and He gives grace for the work. What is more important, though, is that the truth reach the unreached so that those who would be saved could have the opportunity to hear the saving message.

This brings me to many Believers who seem to be reaching out with the Word of God to friends, family and certain people, all of whom are not interested in the truth that saves. God says you should not be discouraged.

Your heart and face must be set like a flint — hard and unyielding. They will mock you and try to subject you to ridicule. They will call you names. You will meet atheists, agnostics, backsliders and mischievous skeptics.

The Lord says to you as he said to Ezekiel: don’t back down. Speak the Word and keep loving.

The world rates success much differently than God does. A person who Seems to be preaching to a receptive crowd may be said to have great success. People may see the man who is struggling to get an unwilling crowd to listen to the truth as a failure.

So in man’s book, prophets like Ezekiel and Jeremiah were failures. Hardly anyone listened to them. No one wanted to be associated with them. They were seen as fanatics and prophets of doom.

Yet it was God who sent them, and when He sent them, He knew they were going to an unwilling and rebellious people.

These prophets only needed to keep doing their work according to divine prescription. If they judged their own ministry by how many people were willing to believe them, they could be discouraged and then abandon the work.

Have you been given an assignment by God? Do you feel that you are being asked to do the impossible? Are you thinking of giving up because you can’t see the fruit of your consistent labor?

If you are feeling like a failure while faithfully committed to what God has sent you to do, understand that your feelings are not an indication of what God thinks of you. God doesn’t measure success with a human yardstick. He is a perfect judge.

Only eternity will reveal the true worth of any man’s labor.

We have a word of comfort from the Lord thus:

Galatians 6:9 KJ2000
And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.

Why are we given such an admonition?

Because doing good gets difficult at times. The people you care for may even turn around to hurt you. But God says you have a great reward. So set your face like a flint and be not intimidated by the power of evil.

Whatever man says, you are a success in the eyes of God.

May the strength of the Lord rise up in you to fulfil God’s will no matter the opposition.

Have a blessed day.