Teach me to do Your will, for You are my God. Let Your good Spirit lead me on a level path. Psalm 143:10 NRSV.

Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord, the Lord, is the Rock eternal. Isaiah 26:4.

Lean on, trust in, and be confident in the Lord with all your heart and mind and do not rely on your own insight or understanding. Proverbs 3:5 AMP.

I loved this in You Are The Beloved by Henri Nouwen: “To walk in the presence of the Lord means to move forward in life in such a way that all our desires, thoughts, and actions are constantly guided by Him. When we walk in the Lord’s presence, everything we see, hear, touch, or taste reminds us of Him. This is what is meant by a prayerful life. It is not a life in which we say many prayers, but a life in which nothing, absolutely nothing, is done, said, or understood independently of Him who is the origin and purpose of our existence. This is powerfully expressed by the nineteenth-century Russian Orthodox starets Theophan the Recluse: Into every duty a God-fearing heart must be put, a heart constantly permeated by the thought of God; and this will be the door through which the soul will enter into active life…The essence is to be established in the remembrance of God, and to walk in His presence.”

And imagine being Ezekiel! He was powerfully established in the remembrance of God because Creator God – Father, Son, Spirit, was speaking to him directly. Ezekiel 2…He said to me, “Son of man, stand up on your feet and I will speak to you.” As He spoke, the Spirit came into me and raised me to my feet, and I heard Him speaking to me. v. 1-2. Can you imagine? He said: “Son of man, I am sending you to the Israelites, to a rebellious nation that has rebelled against Me; they and their ancestors have been in revolt against Me to this very day. The people to whom I am sending you are obstinate and stubborn. Say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says,’ And whether they listen or fail to listen – for they are a rebellious people – they will know that a prophet has been among them. And you, son of man, do not be afraid of them or their words. Do not be afraid, though briers and thorns are all around you and you live among the scorpions. Do not be afraid of what they say or be terrified by them, though they are a rebellious people. You must speak My words to them, whether they listen or fail to listen, for they are rebellious. But you, son of man, listen to what I way to you. Do not rebel like that rebellious people; open your mouth and eat what I give you.” Then I looked, and I saw a hand stretched out to me. In it was a scroll, which He unrolled before me. On both sides of it were written words of lament and mourning and woe. v. 3-10. Three times God tells Ezekiel not to be afraid or to fear these rebellious people. Think of all the times throughout the history of mankind that people have feared other people because of their rebellious attitude. That attitude always brings their downfall; and while they have power before their inevitable downfall, they are terrible indeed. And how can God tell Ezekiel not to be afraid? Because God is I AM. He is and He is working always.

What about our attitude? Are we people others should fear? Or are we people who are weary of our own deep-seated attitude of rebellion and anger? Are we people who have cried out to Almighty Creator God because we have nowhere else to go that makes any sense in this broken, rebellious world? Or, are we people who are turning away from Him so we can embrace what we and others in this world think is right? How is that working for you and this broken world today? And the amazing thing is, at just the right time, Creator God – the Son, came into our world to show us a better way and that way was to trust Creator God – the Father, who so loved the world, He sent His Son to save us from all the rebellion and hate and anger that is our downfall every time. And after His work was completed and He returned to the Father, He sent the Spirit to be our Helper through the darkness still in hearts and minds in this broken world motivated by rebellion against our Creator God. Why do we rebel? Because we don’t know God. Why do you think Ezekiel needed to be sent? For them and for us.