Real Life by Peggi Tustan

Welcome to Real Life . The news is not always good. “And gradually, though no one remembers exactly how it happened, the unthinkable becomes tolerable. And then acceptable. And then legal. And then applaudable.” –Joni Eareckson Tada [1] The year is 593 BC. While in Babylonian exile, along the banks of the Kebar River, God calls Ezekiel to be a watchman. It is not an easy position. We like to give good news. But Ezekiel was called to speak the truth; and the news was not good. Judgment was coming. The remnant of God’s people living in Jerusalem had turned away from him and turned to idolatry, violence, and immorality. They had even begun sacrificing their children—Israel’s future—in the fire to the false god Molech.  A watchman protects an entity (such as a business or city) from robbery or enemy attack. If the watchman falls asleep and the business is robbed, the watchman will be held responsible. If Ezekiel failed to deliver God’s warning, and the people died in their sins, God wo...

Welcome to Real Life . It (real life) is not always easy! It is a poverty of imagination that bankrupts hope. –Ann Voskamp, Waymaker I was a young wife, not yet twenty, when my husband abandoned me. I was devastated. All my hopes and dreams for the future had walked out the door. Then one day in church, I heard this promise and clung to it. “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11 The Lord made this promise to his people at a time when they were devastated. All their hopes and dreams—their homes, nation, house of worship—everything was gone. Israel had turned away from God and committed idolatry, even sacrificing their children to foreign Gods. [1] And so, God removed his protection and brought judgment. He allowed Babylon to destroy Jerusalem and lead his people away as captives. The Flight of the Prisoners  (1896) by James Tissot Though they cried out to God in the...

Welcome to Real Life . Don’t blame the messenger. “Is that you, you troubler of Israel?” King Ahab said to Elijah. Israel was deep in suffering from a famine, due to drought—a drought the prophet Elijah foretold three and a half years earlier. Elijah did not cause the drought. He simply relayed God's message. Israel’s King Ahab married Jezebel, a zealous worshiper of Baal. [1]  In the Promised Land, God's country, Ahab allowed Jezebel to institute Baal worship as the national religion. In addition, she drove the priests and prophets of the Lord underground, threatening their lives. Ahab built a temple to Baal for her on Mt. Carmel right next to the altar of the Lord (which fell into ruin from disuse). God was not pleased! So, he sent Elijah with this message for Ahab: “As the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, whom I serve, there will be neither dew nor rain in the next few years except at my word” (1 Kings 17:1) . Three years later, in the midst of famine, Elijah reap...