Presence in Troubled Times

Exactly how the Old Testament prophet, Ezekiel, got to the river Chebar in the land of the Chaldeans is up for interpretation.  Some figure he walked with the rest of those being exiled from Jerusalem.  Others point to Ezekiel 2:12-15 and suggest that he was lifted up from all that was familiar by the Spirit and dropped there by the river with those who had arrived by foot.  Figure it out.  Regardless of the mode of transportation, this young aspiring priest who had spent a life time training for his work in the Temple ended up in a strange place wearing not the robes of the priest, but the mantle of the prophet.

 

One of the more interesting comments about the whole affair is found in the third verse of the first chapter of Ezekiel.  "...the hand of the Lord was upon him there."  In a strange place midst troubling circumstances, Ezekiel was given an awareness that he was not alone.  The God who had always been so associated with the Temple in Jerusalem was present with him in this new and strange place.  Certainly, He was revealing Himself in a different way, but about His presence there was no doubt.

As we journey through the troubled days of our life and as we find ourselves living in the strange place created by the trouble, we can live with the same assurance Ezekiel knew long ago as he settled with the exiles in the land of Chaldeans.  The hand of the Lord still rests upon us. What we may be discovering is that the old ways of experiencing His presence no longer work, but such a realization only means that we must be vigilant to the ways He will reveal Himself.  It is certain that He will make Himself known to us.  This ongoing revelation is not dependent on familiar and certain circumstances, but upon His love for us.  And, remember,  there is no end to the love He has for each one of us.