In This Way: Successful Patterns

4“Then lie on your left side and put the sin of the people of Israel upon yourself. a You are to bear their sin for the number of days you lie on your side. 5I have assigned you the same number of days as the years of their sin. So for 390 days you will bear the sin of the people of Israel. 13The Lord said, “In this way the people of Israel will eat defiled food among the nations where I will drive them.” ~ Ezekiel 4: 4, 5, 13

Observations:

• Ezekiel spent 390 days in symbolic proclamation
• Pattern of bearing sin of Israel was archetype for Christ
• Spent 40 days on his right side
• Ezekiel prophesied from Babylon about hometown of Jerusalem (Ez 1:1)
• "In This Way" mentioned in verse 13
• Steps for his proclamation came from Lord in a pattern
• Ezekiel was in Babylon at same time as Daniel (Ez 1:2, Dn 1:1-3)

Applications:

• Some assignments take long term commitment
• Carrying our crosses daily is a pattern (Lk 9:23)
• voluntary undertaking of discomfort, motivated by love
• something only I can do
• Do the same thing, in different ways, to fulfill life's mission
• oral delivery over 52 Sundays for 9 years
• written delivery every month for 2 years
• written deliver every week during COVID-19
• There's no place like home
• Doing things "In This Way" is unique to each individual
• comparisons are ludicrous
• Timing is everything
• Listen and obey quickly
• write three hours per day
• trial and error require daily repetition and abandonment
• repeat things that were tried and worked
• abandon things that were tried and didn't work
• repeat and abandon without emoting
• There are others also finding successful patterns during disaster
• don't worry about finding them
• trust the One guiding them (Ezekiel: Alex :: Daniel : TBD)
• God is guiding us all...some of us may meet one day

Prayer: Thank You for showing me that I'm not alone during difficulty.  I don't need to see who else is doing what, as much as I need to keep my eyes and ears obediently trained on You.  I will follow the patterns You reveal.