When Duty Calls!

Ezekiel 2:7 NLT

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One of the hardest jobs of a prophet/prophetic person is to deliver a message that’s less than ideal. When God calls, we may at any point, be called to deliver God‘s message to family, friends, coworkers, and even those in leadership.

Being God’s messenger requires us to clock in for work at any given time. One of the most important topics surrounding the Prophet’s office or functioning under the spirit of prophecy is, that the message may not always be received by its intended recipient.

The funny thing is God knows if the word will be received or not.

In our most accurate of prophetic flows, there are, and will be those who just will not accept the prophetic word given.

Let’s look at Ezekiel chapter 2 verse 7.

You must give them My messages, whether they listen or not

Here God tells Ezekiel that he has been commissioned as His prophet to declare His words and Ezekiel must do this whether they listen or not.

Imagine for a moment heralding while hundreds of people refused to listen. It’s easy to imagine this in a scenario with one person or even a small group, however, we as prophets of God must receive with clarity and understanding that God does not require His words to be received but He does require us to deliver the message. We all have heard the phrase “I’m just the messenger”  or “don’t shoot the messenger”, well, this is not exactly the approach we should take. Although we are the messenger, we’re not “just” the messenger, “we are in the authority of Christ Jesus” when we come to speak on His behalf.

It's amazing that God parallels our ability to accept or reject information is based upon our ability to listen.

To listen means to give one's attention to a sound. So Israel heard yet they refused to listen!

PRO TIP: the major difference between listening and hearing is that listening requires intentional effort not required when hearing!

Before God‘s instruction to release the message regardless of its approval and acceptance He tells Ezekiel in verse six, do not be afraid of them, or their words, and no matter the magnitude of their threats do not fear them!

The latter of verse seven lets us know that God knew that Israel would reject His words through Ezekiel, yet God commanded that Ezekiel still deliver the message in spite of.

As divine messengers of God, we are not swayed by the acceptance or rejection of those we are called to stand before, as God’s diplomats.

Let me interject here that it’s also important that we do not become overly obsessed with our assignments being accepted or rejected. This is important to state because there will be times when we’re on an acceptance or rejection streak and we should not grow accustomed to these responses because neither is most important.

Although this responsibility may not get any easier, we are not to be concerned with how well we deliver the message, but rather how well we obey God!

God communicates His mind to us in a multitude of ways, and it is our responsibility to fulfill His will regardless of our agreement with said message.

When duty calls, we respond. When God speaks, we listen and execute. Our job is not dependent upon the acceptance or rejection, but rather the fulfillment of the assignment as God wills it.

So begin to love what God loves and hate what He hates if you haven’t already! And while you’re doing that, condition yourself to understand what pleases God, is your obedience, not your popularity.

The prophetic ministry in the modern church is very fond of a positive prophetic utterance and governance, however, it is not our responsibility to be on any side of the message aside from that which expresses the heart and mind of God!

So when duty calls, our main objective, and only focus is to be obedient, and pleasing to God!

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Spiritual workout question: Have you ever experienced a challenge when duty calls? If so, how did you overcome it? Share your response below! 👇🏾