I am my beloved’s, and my beloved is mine. Song of Solomon 6:3 KJV.

I have told you these things, so that in Me you may have {perfect} peace and confidence. In the world you have tribulation and trials and distress and frustration; but be of good cheer {take courage; be confident, certain, undaunted}! For I have overcome the world. {I have deprived it of power to harm you and have conquered it for you.} John 16:33 AMP.

For where two or three gather in My name, there am I with them. Matthew 18:20.

I loved this in Hearing God by Dallas Willard: “In the union of souls in marriage – in the conscious delight and rest in one another that is the highest and most exalted relationship possible between two persons – it is not right for one person to always tell the other what to do. The beloved, who both loves and is loved, does not want to order the lover about; instead the beloved desires that the lover understand what is needed so that no orders are necessary. And so it is in our union with God, a person both loving and beloved. God does not delight in having to always explain what His will is; He enjoys it when we understand and act upon His will. Our highest calling and opportunity in life is to love Him with all our being. Reflect: Are you eager for a union of souls with God, or do you prefer for God to always tell you what to do? In what way might you understand His will and act on it today?”

Our chapter, Ezekiel 24, God gives Ezekiel a parable to tell the people about a cooking pot that represents them and Jerusalem. In the ninth year, in the tenth month on the tenth day, the word of the Lord came to me: “Son of man, record this date, this very date, because the king of Babylon has laid siege to Jerusalem this very day. Tell this rebellious people a parable and say to them: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Put on the cooking pot; put it on and pour water into it. Put into it the pieces of meat, all the choicest pieces – the leg and the shoulder. Fill it with the best of these bones; take the pick of the flock. Pile wood beneath it for the bones; bring it to a boil and cook the bones in it. For this is what the Sovereign Lord says: Woe to the city of bloodshed, to the pot now encrusted, whose deposit will not go away! Take the meat out piece by piece in whatever order it comes. For the blood shed in her midst: She poured it on the bare rock; she did not pour it on the ground, where the dust would cover it. To stir up wrath and take revenge I put her blood on the bare rock, so that it would not be covered…Woe to the city of bloodshed! I, too, will pile the wood high. So heap on the wood and kindle the fire…Then set the empty pot on the coals till it becomes hot and its copper glows, so that its impurities may be melted and its deposit burned away. It has frustrated all efforts; its heavy deposit has not been removed, not even by fire. Now your impurity is lewdness…I the Lord have spoken. The time has come for Me to act. I will not hold back; I will not have pity, nor will I relent. You will be judged according to your conduct and your actions, declares the Sovereign Lord.’” v. 1-14. And then God tells Ezekiel that his wife will die that day and that he is not to mourn in the outward, visible way of mourning. Ezekiel obeyed. And the people? Then the people asked me, “Won’t you tell us what these things have to do with us? Why are you acting like this?” v. 19. We never think it applies to us. So I said to them, “The word of the Lord came to me: Say to the people of Israel, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I am about to desecrate My sanctuary – the stronghold in which you take pride, the delight of your eyes, the object of your affection. The sons and daughters you left behind will fall by the sword. And you will do as I have done. You will not cover your mustache and beard or eat the customary food of mourners. You will keep your turbans on your heads and your sandals on your feet. You will not mourn or weep but will waste away because of your sins and groan among yourselves. Ezekiel will be a sign to you; you will do just as he has done. When this happens, you will know that I am the Sovereign Lord.’” v. 20-24.

When I read these events from the Old Testament, it can be difficult to understand in a way that helps and not hinders. Certainty in my own way of thinking can be like a high prison wall that keeps in wrong ideology. How can we make room to listen to God if we are so certain of our own deeply held beliefs? See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland. Isaiah 43:19. So sometimes, then and now, we need to let God be God and trust His love to know what is needed and when. Where two or more are gathered…when I sit with Creator God – Father, Son, Spirit, reading His word and praying, which is conversation with Him, and He responds, He is with me, expanding my limited understanding and bringing His peace. I am still troubled every time I read that Jesus said He has overcome the world because this world is still so very broken. And I tell Him that and find peace knowing He is Sovereign and His will will be done for all of us in His timing and His wisdom and His love. Can you imagine when all loved ones who have gone before us will be with us again and we will be with Him? And today, when I gather with others who love God, He is with our small group bringing His peace as we share vulnerabilities, questions, hopes, confusions, and insights gleaned in His word. It feels so good to talk with others who love Him as much as I do! I can imagine that wonderful day when everyone will be talking with Him and with one another and marveling at the truth we couldn’t yet fully see then. But with others today, where two or three gather in His name, we can see and know the certainty, not of our deeply held misguided beliefs, but of His love for us. His love is everything!