Obstacles

"If righteous people turn away from their righteous behavior and ignore the obstacles I put in their way, they will die. And if you do not warn them, they will die in their sins. None of their righteous acts will be remembered, and I will hold you responsible for their deaths." Ezekiel 3:16-27

 

I knew it was time for all our defensive training to be put into action. Our grandson, like his mother before him, was full-on baby energy. His target? The stairs. I was right on his heels as he made his break for the stairway. He managed to scoot up a few stairs before I scooped him up. Unimpressed by quick reflexes, he squealed and waited again for just the right moment to make his escape unaware of the inherent danger the stairs posed for him. It was time for a different strategy -- The Baby Gate. As he watched, I firmly secured it to the wall and it proved to be just the right obstacle at just the right time.


Ezekiel had a thankless job. He had all kinds of hardships and had to be a part of some really crazy sign prophesies. He had his ability to talk taken away. He was tied up on one side for 390 days and then the other side for 40 days. He had to shave off his hair and beard and divide it into three piles representing war, famine and exile. It was kind of wild, but he did have the unimaginable privilege of talking with and experiencing God in ways nobody else did. He was the warning system for the people. "Repent!", he would tell them. He was one of God's obstacles put in place to hinder people from going the wrong way and destroying themselves.


The expressions of God's grace roll out of the pages of scripture like precious jewels out of a black velvet bag. It's simply impossible for us to postulate a plausible theory for God's endless undeserved favor, but it's there and it's undeniable for those with ears to hear and eyes to see. God not only forgives us when we sincerely ask him for it, but he also works to keep us from going off course in the first place! All through our brief sojourn on planet earth, the Lord places obstacles in our lives. The obstacles here in view in Ezekiel are not obstacles of testing. They are obstacles of protection. The greatest obstacle to destruction is Jesus. Please don't make the forever mistake of walking around him.

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