A lot of times I find myself getting into things that are way over my head, and I'm left feeling overwhelmed, underequipped, and inexperienced. Sometimes I wonder how things are going to turn out, am I going to mess things up, or do I have what it takes? It's easy to think that giving up is the simplest answer, and that I should just bail out before things get too messy.
But then I read passages like Ezekiel 1. At first, I wasn't really sure what to make of the living creatures, the windstorm, etc., but taking a closer look I realized that these represent some of the most powerful forces of this world. The living creatures have the faces of men (made in the image of God), lions (the fiercest predators), oxen (the strongest laborers), and eagles (the kings of the air). Facing in each of the four directions, they watch over the whole earth with the eyes encircling their wheels. There is also imagery of fire, wind, water, and ice, demonstrating the power of God's creation.
These living creatures must have been awesome to see, but there's still something more. Above the creatures and all the forces of this world, we see the glory of God enthroned in brilliant light, radiant like a rainbow and full of fire. Ezekiel saw all the power of the world in the four living creatures, but it was when he saw the glory of the Lord that he fell face down.
Seeing all of this, I can't help but to marvel at the majesty of our God, and suddenly all of the difficult situations and my inadequacies seem like minor details. When I am serving a God who is so powerful, sovereign over all the world, how could I remain defeated by my self-centered weaknesses? How could I think of giving up and living for something more "ordinary" when I have seen the glory of the Lord who is worthy of my whole life? Ezekiel and the exiles may have faced some of the same doubts that I do, but I'm sure that when the Lord appeared to him he was left without any doubt of what he was called to do (read more in Ezekiel 2-3).
So where does that leave our church? I am often amazed at the calling God has given us: transforming lost people into Christ's disciples who will then transform the world. Transforming our campus and community here in Ann Arbor is no easy task, let alone transforming the world with so many nations left unreached, but I pray that as we discover more of who God is, He will give us confidence and faith to remain steadfast in our calling until we see the world reached for Jesus Christ.
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I think one thing I that occurred to me in this passage was the great care God puts into his creation.
There is such symmetry in this image. God has put together a powerful and complete image. You can almost sense how overwhelming it all might seem. Also, everything seems to move as one. God has crafted unity into his very creation.
I wonder if we put so much care into the things we make? Do our works exemplify beauty, power and unity, and thus even the nature of God? It challenges me to see the nature of work in a different light.
Regarding feeling underequipped, and inexperienced, maybe Gideon set a good example for us that he took courage to follow God’s calling despite all his fear. If something is assigned by God, it will be done and not according to our own ability anyway. ‘Bailing out’ is not recommended, or one will miss many beautiful chapters. And although we get defeated once and again, we do grow stronger as a fighter.
Regarding God’s glory, my question is how to fit the spectacular picture into our daily life. It might be wonderful for one to get vision and calling, and even when we are emotionally overwhelmed it’s not that difficult to praise to promise to imagine we are soaring with God above the storm. But it might be a totally different story afterward when we get done to the business to live for what is trusted to us. After all the reality is in the valley, even desert, not the mountaintop. Facing all kinds of confusions and frustrations, are we able to keep being inspired? How can we let the glory we saw sink into the daily trivials instead of being worn away? Sorry I don’t have a complete answer here, but it might take personal relationship with Jesus, and also the support from the body of Christ.
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