You ever feel like you are fighting a losing battle?  Ever feel like you’ve got a task that you just can’t get done, dealing with something that you just can’t get right, working with something that you just can’t change?

We’ve all been there at some point in our lives. We’ve all been in a battle that we just can’t feel like we can win.  We’ve all felt that frustration, that anger, that doubt, that pressure, that worry.  One of my favorite characters in Greek mythology is Sisyphus.  If you’re not familiar with his story, basically he was punished for all eternity by having to push a boulder up a mountain, only to have it roll back down up on him. And he had to do that for all eternity.

Sometimes we feel like that, don’t we?  Sometimes we just feel like things won’t change and we can’t win.  Listen to what happens to Ezekiel today in Ezekiel 2: 4-7:

4 The descendants are impudent and stubborn. I am sending you to them, and you shall say to them, “Thus says the Lord God.” 5 Whether they hear or refuse to hear (for they are a rebellious house), they shall know that there has been a prophet among them. 6 And you, O mortal, do not be afraid of them, and do not be afraid of their words, though briers and thorns surround you and you live among scorpions; do not be afraid of their words, and do not be dismayed at their looks, for they are a rebellious house. 7 You shall speak my words to them, whether they hear or refuse to hear; for they are a rebellious house.

God sends Ezekiel to preach to the Israelites. And He says this.  They may not listen. They are rebellious. They are hard-headed. They may not listen to a word you say.

But you say it anyway. Because your job is not to change them.  Your job is to preach that word.

What a word for us today!  Your job is not to win that battle.  It’s not.  Your job is to be faithful. That’s your job today.  It’s God’s call if the battle is won or lost.  You can’t in the end control that.  You can’t control them.  You can’t control the situation.  You can’t control any of that.

All you can control is yourself.  That’s it.

So, our job is not to worry about the things that we can’t control.  Our job is to worry about what we can control. That’s ourselves. That’s our response.  That’s our faithfulness. That’s our effort.  That’s us.  That’s all we can do.

So, today, be faithful.  Even if it’s a battle that you don’t think you can win. Be faithful. The battle is Lord’s.  He will take care of what happens in the end.  Today, though, for you and for me, let’s be faithful.  Let’s be obedient. Let’s do what God wants us to do.

And the rest is up to Him. Don’t worry.  Don’t fear.  Don’t doubt.  Be faithful.  That’s our main duty!

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