5/31/26 "Sitting Idol Pt.3"

“There are several reasons why sometimes we seek the Lord and ask Him to respond to a question or need, but don’t seem to get any response. Sometimes it is simply God’s timing. Other times it can feel like a test for us to exercise our patients. However, Ezekiel chapter 20 shares with us a time when the elders of Israel come to Ezekiel to inquire of the Lord. God comes to Ezekiel and says he will not respond to their inquiries. The reason? Because they have rejected God’s ordinances and in their heart, follow constantly their idols. God‘s ordinances are like a prescription. The Lord gives them because He says “if you do these things you will live.“ Somewhere in our hearts, we, like Israel, seem to easily create other things that we place our trust in. Maybe it’s our jobs. Maybe it’s our finances. Maybe it is just trusting that because we are going to church everything will be OK. That is not what God wants us to place our trust in, however. He desires us to put our whole love and trust in Him and the way we show Him that, is through acknowledging God‘s ordinances or prescriptions as being the right thing to do, and then begin to walk our lives accordingly by faith. A faith that acknowledges a total dependency on God‘s strength to walk in his “prescriptions“. If you feel like God is not responding or speaking to you, it might be a good time to have the Holy Spirit search your heart and ask yourself this question. “Have I created any idols in place of my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ to depend on?" He will be faithful to reveal what that is. When that happens, ask the Lord's forgiveness and repent and turn back your heart‘s desire to acknowledging that the Lord‘s ways are what you want, and that you will trust in His strength inside of you by the Holy Spirit to continue to walk in those ways. Just watching see if the Lord does not begin to speak and lead you once again and you will live!"

-Pastor Jon