Is Life Letting You Down? [39]

Host: TJ Freeman

Summary: In this episode of Back to Rurality, TJ Freeman, a rural pastor, addresses the common disappointments in life when we place our hope in relationships, jobs, or health, only to be let down. He reads from Ezekiel 6, where God condemns idolatry and emphasizes the folly of placing hope in anything other than Him. TJ explains how God desires us to trust Him completely, as only God can save us. He encourages listeners to reflect on their misplaced hopes and to fully trust in Christ.

Connect with Us:

• Website: backtorurality.com
• Social Media: Facebook
• Email: tj@brainerdinstitute.com

Transcript

Have you ever put your hope in something only to be let down? You think that that relationship is really gonna build you up, but then that person lets you down. You think that that job is gonna be so satisfying and fulfilling. But it lets you down. You think you can trust in your health and it lets you down.

So often life is met with those kind of disappointments. What should we do when life lets us down? Well stay tuned to this episode of Back to Rurality. Well, hello, my name is TJ Freeman and I'm a rural pastor, and that means that just like you, I do in fact live in the middle of nowhere and living out here, I've grown accustomed to some disappointments.

Some of them not such a big deal, like when my team loses the game. Others a real big problem, like when there's a health scare. Or a problem in my relationships, and here's the reality with things that we hope in. It's easy for us to disconnect our hope from God alone and begin to place it in the things around us that just normal human behavior.

But God says something pretty strong about that in Ezekiel chapter six. He starts referring to. Putting our hope in things other than God as idolatry, and he points out that God has some pretty striking news for those who are trusting in idols. This is kind of a long passage, but I think it's worth reading.

It's Ezekiel chapter six, and I'll just start right in verse one. If you have a Bible and you wanna follow along, open it up to Ezekiel six verse one. If you don't, you can just listen. Here we go. The word of the Lord came to me. Son of man, set your face toward the mountains of Israel and prophesy against them and say, you mountains of Israel hear the word of the Lord God, thus says the Lord God.

To the mountains in the hills, to the ravines, in the valleys, behold I even, I will bring a sword upon you and I will destroy your high places. Your altars shall become desolate and your incense altars shall be broken, and I will cast down your slain before your idols, and I will lay the dead bodies of the people of Israel before their idols and I will scatter their bones around your altars.

Wherever you dwell, the city shall be waste and the high places shall be ruined so that your altars will be waste and ruined. Your altars broken and destroyed. Your incense alters cut down and your works wiped out, and the slain shall fall in your midst and you shall know that I am the Lord. Woo! Yeehaw.

That's a tough passage of scripture, isn't it? Yeah, there's this setting your face against Israel, that's just Ezekiel who's a prophet. God is telling him, look at Israel, look at the mountains like their strength, their lofty places, and then all the way down to the valleys and ravines, and I want you to say these things to them. 

And then he starts going on this whole bit about, I'm gonna kill you guys and I'm gonna lay your bones down before the broken altars of the idols you were worshiping. Well, doesn't that sound like a hopeful prospect? Who wouldn't wanna worship a God who would do that to his people?

Well, actually. That is a pretty kind gesture. What's going on in Israel is that Israel has descended into total idolatry, idol worship. Israel, we found out in earlier chapters of Ezekiel, is worse than the nations around them. They are wicked, nasty people. They've turned from God to put their hope in idols and the idols have let them down.

And desperate people are dangerous people and the people of Israel are super dangerous right now. You would not have wanna walked through Israel without packing a peace 'cause it was a rough and nasty place. And also you would've noticed if you took a little stroll with your sidearm through Israel, that there were these little idols all over the place.

Literally hand carved wooden idols under every tree, under the park, benches next to all the buildings. People are worshiping everything except for God, and what God is doing here is not being mean. He's showing them how foolish this is. When he says, I'm gonna lay your dead bodies before the idols, what he's proving is that the idols, number one, can't save you, and number two, they cannot resurrect the dead.

The idols are actually worthless, and if you put your hope in them, you are in trouble. And remember, this is a prophecy. Ezekiel is here to warn the people of Israel. And guess what? They still have time to do. That's right. They could turn from their sin to follow after the one true God. If they don't do it, they're gonna find out anyway that there is only one God and it's this one who's spoken to them and who's calling them to turn from their sin before it's too late.

He doesn't want them worshiping idols. He wants them putting their hope fully in him. Idols cannot save you. Idols cannot resurrect the dead. You know who can save you? The God who made you can save you. And he can raise you to new life. He proved that by doing it to his own son. See, Jesus actually died for all of our sin so that anyone who trusts in him can be saved.

And just as Jesus was raised from the dead, those who are putting their hope in Christ alone will be raised with him. God can save you and God can raise the dead. No lesser hope can do that. 

So have you've gotten your hope a little out of order, have you've been putting a little too much pressure on your relationships, on your job, on your children, on your grades, on your performance, on your comfort, on your health?

If you put your hope in these things, you will be let down because everything on this earth at some point is guaranteed to fail, but God will never fail. So you, out there in the middle of nowhere, take some time to take a little stock of where you've been placing your hope, and with the Lord's help turn to him and ask him that he'd help you to put your hope fully in Christ and that that would be visible to you and all around you as you read his word and believe it, and apply it as you turn to him in prayer. 

Not just so your needs can be met, but so that you can know the God who has spoken, who made you, and who made you for his glory and. Be together with other Christians.

Now, you might not have a healthy church in your little town. There's probably some other Christians there who you should get to know. But be praying that God will raise up an expression of the body of Christ. That's just a fancy way of saying a church right there in the little place where you live. God wants to be glorified in and from the middle of nowhere, and your part of that as you put your hope fully in him and call others to do the same.

Well, thanks for tuning in. This podcast, back to Rurality, is a ministry of the Brainerd Institute for Rural Ministry. We exist to equip the saints to lead healthy churches. If you wanna know more, just head on over to brainerdinstitute.com for articles and other resources that will help serve you as you serve Christ in the middle of nowhere.

Thanks for tuning in. For now, let's get back to life, back to rurality.