God had a hard word for his people. And he knew it was going to be hard for them to take it. He wanted to communicate to them his grief over their hard-heartedness and when God communicates it isn’t just information. To hear God is to share his heart, so when God communicates his grief over us we can only hear him if we are willing to share that grief. God was coming to his people, but in order for them to know him they would have to face and share his sadness. They would have to face up to everything in themselves that was causing this sadness. The scroll in Ezekiel’s vision represents the grief of God over his people. God wanted Ezekiel as the messenger to be the first to allow this message to penetrate his heart, so he told him to eat the scroll. When Ezekiel ate the scroll, however, it didn’t taste bitter, but sweet. Why is this? It is simply because the hardest truth is always sweeter than the most desirable lie. God regularly communicates his grief to me about my attitudes and behaviour and the moments when I face these truths about myself are the sweetest moments I have ever known. They are moments of truth and reconciliation. They are the times when I turn around to see God and to feel his love for me again. For the sadness of God over us is only ever an expression of his love.
Ask God to show you if there is anything in your life that is grieving him now.
Read Ezekiel 2:1-3:15
