the word made flesh

I started reading the book of Ezekiel. I was thinking about how, as a prophet, God commanded Ezekiel to do some very challenging things to illustrate the message he was proclaiming to the Israelites, and it's not as if God supernaturally intervened to make the challenges easier. It seems like that's an important part of the message. 

An example of one of the challenges is that Ezekiel had to lie on his left side for 390 days, and he was only allowed to eat 230 grams of bread a day, which he cooked while lying on his side, and to drink 2 cups of water a day. Ezekiel's suffering in this way was to convey a message about God's punishment of Israel because of their sins. 

It's similar with the other prophets as well. Jeremiah and Isaiah went through many hardships and difficulties. They were mocked and abused and ridiculed and faced all kinds of plots on their lives. They had to preach a message which most people didn't want to hear. 

It brings to mind what Paul wrote about the 'thorn in his side'. We don't know what the thorn was but presumably it was painful and debilitating. Paul tells us that he was given this thorn, which tormented him, to keep him from becoming conceited as a result of the awesome revelations which God had given him. He prayed to God that it would be taken away from him - he pleaded with God - but God said no. Paul tells us that God actually said to him: 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' (2 Corinthians 12:9)

When we think about sharing our faith, it's easy to think of it as a matter of speaking a certain message - saying certain words - but what we learn from the prophets is that sharing our faith is about embodying the message - being the message, not just speaking the message.