Be a idiot even when it hurts. Let's talk about it on this edition of E-Life. This is key life. If you are into playing games with God, turn off your radio now. This is a program designed to help beggars tell other beggars what they found bread. Here's Steve with a teaching for today. Thanks, Mike. If you had your Bible, turn to a Zeke you. We're up to the 20th. I'm just a tour director and we're going through. This is one of my favorite books and I really do like it. So, spend a little bit more time there. You can tell the books that I really, really like. And the ones that I recognize as a radio propositional truth in Aaron's scripture. But I just don't like as well. I can't help it. That's just the way I am. So, we're spending some time in Ezekiel. You will find that we will spend far less time in the book of Daniel. Simply because every time I read it, I get a different view. Every time I read it, I think I've got it. And I don't have it. But we'll talk about that when we get there. But anyway, we're spending time in Ezekiel. And we're up to the 24th chapter. Now, you've got to remember this is still but section where Ezekiel is going after the people of God. And God is not happy with them. They're going to go into the Babylonian exile. It's a time of great sadness, of great pain. This is not the kind of text that you read for your evening devotions. Now, turn to the 24th chapter of Ezekiel. I want to show you something that if you think about it, it kind of breaks your heart. I remember most people think of John Calvin as being this mean guy who had a whip and said you get in line or God's going to strike you dead with lighting. He really wasn't. There's a letter that John Calvin read to his friend. They were both old men and Pharaoh's wife had died. No Calvin's wife had died. And the letter is so sad and so gentle and so filled with tears. You've got to remember that men and women of God who are leaders hurt too. I remember when Harold Robbins was doing a devotional for a board of which I was a party kept saying he kept talking about leaders who had fallen. And he said pray for the strong for they are very weak. Pray for the strong for they are very weak. Or that song the warrior is a child. We're all that way. In a God sometimes sets apart somebody to be a leader. But they bleed just the way you do and sometimes they're lonely just the way you are. Sometimes they are afraid just the way you are. Sometimes they go through periods of doubt just as you do. Spurgeon for instance went through months of depression. When he couldn't preach it all started because there was a fire in a church and a boy had died. That was the cause of it factor and for the rest of his life he struggled with that sort of thing. And the reason I'm telling you that is because you ought to go to your pastor and say pastor sometimes is really hard. I just want you to know I love you. Don't tell him all the stuff that's wrong because he's a sinner just like you. Or if you have a woman pastor, she's a sinner just like you. And you need to go and say I want you to know I'm praying for you. Just want you to know I love you. And what brings that to mind is this passage in the Zechio where you got this prophet who is just... I mean this is not a pleasant message that he's been giving. He's been made a watchman. He's been given this very harsh, very in your face, very judgmental message that he's to give to God's people. Now if you think that's fun you're crazy. I know a Zechio and he said I'd rather have a V8. I think he said I'd rather do anything than do this but he was faithful to what God said. Then look at the 15th verse of the 24th chapter of the Zechio and I want to talk about the human side but then I want to talk about what he did. Also the word of the Lord came to me saying and this is not a message you want to hear. Son of man. Now remember a Zechio is always called the son of man. In the book of a Zechio son of man behold I take away from you the desire of your eyes with one stroke. You shall neither mourn nor weep nor shall your tears run down. Sigh in silence make no mourning for the dead. Bind your turban on your head and put your sandals on your feet. Do not cover your lips and do not eat man's bread of sorrow. So I spoke to the people in the morning and at evening my wife died and the next morning I did as I was commanded. Oh man is that good and sad I love that and the people and so I spoke to the people in the morning and at evening my wife died and the next morning I did what I was commanded. Do you think you think that he didn't shed any tears of course he shed tears look at what God said to a Zechio sigh in silence in other words go and mourn by yourself but don't show that other people I've been there I know what that's like when my brother died I almost died. I told you about it a lot my brother my kid brother was my closest friend and he was a district attorney and I was so proud of him. Is a Democrat I trouble with that but I love him a lot rain is media campaign did commercials for him so probably died when he was forty something. And it was awful now the problem that made it even worse was that I was the preacher in the family now if you're a preacher you know what I'm talking about that means everybody turns to you and say what do we do now how are we gonna deal with this and so I made the arrangements and I had to be the person who didn't cry in the person. Who did it who I was the preacher and preachers are spiritual and I don't supposed to go through that kind of stuff so I went through those days and the hardest days of my life I just hated it and then two or three weeks later I flew back to my hometown in the mountains and I visited my brother's grave and they had a 21 gun salute and the Marines had shown that close down the streets of the city and the policemen. Salute it is the person went by and I was strong and I was solid and everybody leaned on me but when I went back by myself stood in that graveyard with a wind blowing it was raining and they hadn't put a tombstone in my brother's grave I couldn't even find it. And man it all came out I said God I can't believe this you know I've got lost the man that I love more than any man in the world and I and I'm dying here and I can't even find a stupid grave and you put me through this and I broke down and started crying now you need to know that God came during that time said what are you looking for the dead looking for the living among the dead and God comforted but I want you to know I had to do that morning in private and I want you know that's the hardest thing I ever did. So when I read this part about Ezekiel as extreme existential meaning to me I understand how do you how do you do it if you if your wife dies and you can't show anybody that you're sorrowful and that you're dying inside I want you to know that God servants do that all the time. Your preacher standing in the pulpit your pastor has wounds but he still serving you still loving you still reaching out still faithful and that's a hard thing to do and so I'm going to now I'm going to stop talking about preachers and pastors and stuff I'm going to talk about you. I know it's hard listen this is not a pretty like it life is not for sissy's I know that some I know there's somebody listening right now got cancer and they just told you and you think the world's come to an end are you going through a divorce and everybody in the church is really angry at you like how could you and it was and he was the one who left it wasn't you are maybe you're the one who send and and you're really paying a heart. It's a terrible price for it maybe have a child who's not walking with you know it's hard we live in a fallen world and we're not home yet now what what you should what you should do if you're going through a hard time like that I'm going to tell you and I'm going to say it with compassion do what God told you to do do what God told I know I don't like it either but do what God told you to do why is that because this this verse speaks wonders so I spoke to the people in the morning and it evening my wife died and the next morning I did what was commanded so I think that I think the God allows us to go through times of morning and he allows us even to have a pity party sometimes I go through a tough time and I get the sense that God says all right I'm going to give you a day but after that buck up and deal with it you know God is not a compassionate he doesn't blow out flickering candles and he doesn't break bruised reeds God knows he knows about the stuff you're going through and and he let you cry because tears sometimes are healing he let you go through a hard time he let you face it and go through the morning process and the pain of loss whatever it is but at some point he says you do like my servant a zik you so I spoke to the people in the morning and the evening my wife died and the next morning I did what was commanded now I'm not going to take the time to read this as we go through a zik you I'm just going to have I'm going to make the point maybe we'll talk a little bit more about it next week but I've already shown you in the outline that in chapters 25 through 32 a zik you quicks going after God's people he starts going after the nations a mon moab eedum felicitia piers seeding Egypt and he goes after them really hard now I want to I want to say something there's one make the point and then we'll talk about it more next week but the point is this God my mother used to oh man she could be mean but if you ever if you ever did anything to be she'd be a lot meaner to you than she was to me I mean I remember well I don't have time to tell you the story but God is that way I mean God's going to deal with his people but if you're a pagan you better leave us alone because you think God's mean to us he'll eat your lunch you think about that I mean hey listen let me tell you what our staff is doing they're putting together our have put together the first of three booklets on this old customer survey and and each booklet would deal with the book up to that point giving you some notes some understating of the books and major themes now the booklets only 25 to 30 pages maybe we're not exactly sure maybe 35 but if you'll write or call I'd love to send you the first of three and I'll I'll let you know when the others are ready so you'll have in your own library a way to study the old testament let me know and I'll send this first one to you ask for the old testament survey number one you can call one 800 key life 24 hours a day write key life post office box 5,000 maintenance order 32794 key life Canada post office box 32150 Cambridge Ontario in 3H 5 in 3 or you can email us at steve at key life dot org nice for the old testament survey booklet number one will send it to you hey listen can you it's free can you help us financially if we've ministered to you God called you to do it be as generous as you can because you help a whole lot of other people and charge it on a master guard be said discover guard included in your envelope and our promise will be faithful with every guy that you send and for any contribution or any size when you request it I'll send you the cassette teaching facets of God's long got to go key life is a production of key life network you