Speak, no matter what

“And you, son of man, do not be afraid of them nor be afraid of their words, though briers and thorns are with you and you dwell among scorpions; do not be afraid of their words or dismayed by their looks, though they are a rebellious house. You shall speak My words to them, whether they hear or whether they refuse, for they are rebellious. But you, son of man, hear what I say to you. Do not be rebellious like that rebellious house; open your mouth and eat what I give you.” – Ezekiel 2v6-8

The charge to Ezekiel was a serious one. God obviously wanted him to carry His message to the people even though they would respond like briers and thorns and scorpions. They would give him strange looks. They would try to scare him off.

Have you ever felt that way when trying to share your faith? People look at you like you are crazy. You may get mocked or made fun of. Many of our fellow Christians are tortured and even killed for their faith. Sometimes it seems like they are so rebellious that they will never listen.

If it were any other work we would quit and go somewhere else.

But we don’t. We labour on. God told Ezekiel that if he refused to preach he would be just as rebellious as those who refused to hear him.

The cases where God tells His servants to quit a work because the people are too hard-hearted are few and far between and there is always a reason.

For the most part God says things like ‘Speak My words whether they hear or refuse,’ ‘be not weary in well doing,’ and ‘be steadfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord.’

Sure the job is tough, but compare that to Jesus who was faithful all the way to the cross.

With that as our example, how can we quit?