Ezekiel 2

This is a short chapter and very powerful. It hit me so strong this morning as I read it about not being afraid of anything. Read this:

"And he said unto me, Son of man, stand upon thy feet, and I will speak unto thee. And the spirit entered into me when he spake unto me, and set me upon my feet, that I heard him that spake unto me. And he said unto me, Son of man, I send thee to the children of Israel, to a rebellious nation that hath rebelled against me: they and their fathers have transgressed against me, even unto this very day. For they are impudent children and stiffhearted. I do send thee unto them; and thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God. And they, whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear, (for they are a rebellious house,) yet shall know that there hath been a prophet among them. And thou, son of man, be not afraid them, neither be afraid of their words, though briers and thorns be with thee, and thou dost dwell among scorpions: be not afraid of their words, nor be dismayed at their looks, though they be a rebellious house. And thou shalt speak my words unto them, whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear: for they are most rebellious. But thou, son of man, hear what I say unto thee; Be not thou rebellious like that rebellious house: open thy mouth, and eat that I give thee. And when I looked, behold, an hand was sent unto me; and, lo, a roll of a book was therein; And he spread it before me; and it was written within and without: and there was written therein lamentations, and mourning, and woe."

When the Lord told Ezekiel to not be afraid, I was so filled with comfort. God is with us. He controls the elements and is on our side. We need not be afraid, or fear what man can do or say. The world may hate us, because we are not rebellious like them, but so what? God is behind us, and in front of us, and surrounds us. What could possibly go wrong with us? I also hear the Lord pleading with Ezekiel (us) not to stray like them, to be faithful, not rebellious. I feel the love of God for us in this pleading.

In the last portion, God shows Ezekiel His hand, and in it is a "roll of a book" or a scroll and it was filled with sorrow. I think that it was filled with the lamentations of the Lord for his wicked children, and of the sorrowing of the damned who are not valiant in the Lord. This includes us if we do not repent and work righteousness. But the Lord commanded him to eat the scroll. In chapter 3 Ezekiel eats the scroll and it was as sweet as honey to him. This is similar to what the angel commanded John the Revelator to eat, "a little book". To John, it tasted sweet, but then upset his stomach badly.

Joseph Smith said this was a mission for John. I can see it being the same for Ezekiel. At first John's mission was sweet to him, but then it turned very sour to him. John's mission has been to testify to the world of Jesus Christ these many hundreds of years that he's been wandering the earth. I'm sure that at times it's very sweet to him, but at times, it just kills him to know he's bearing witness and that people will reject his testimony of Christ. How bitter!

So what is YOUR mission? Are you a mom? A dad? A child? A member of the Lord's restored church? Not a member, yet? What is your mission? You need to find it out and do it. Don't be afraid. The Lord is behind you. He loves you and how can you fail when he hands you a "roll of a book" and it tastes like honey?