Ezekiel 2:1-10: in context

God commissions Ezekiel as a prophet to a hard and rebellious people. I am sending you to a nation of rebels, God says, who have rebelled against me; they are impudent and stubborn. And he tells Ezekiel how to regard their response: whether they hear or refuse, you shall speak my words to them. Do not be afraid of them or their words, though briers and thorns surround you and you dwell among scorpions. Ezekiel's task was to speak God's words faithfully, regardless of whether the people listened or refused.

The striking thing in Ezekiel's commission is that his faithfulness was not measured by the people's response. God did not send him to succeed in being heeded, to produce results, to win the people over. He sent him to speak God's words faithfully, whether they hear or whether they refuse. Ezekiel was responsible to deliver the message, not to control its reception; his task was faithfulness in speaking, and the response was the people's responsibility, not his. Whether they heeded or refused, Ezekiel was to be faithful in speaking God's words. This reframes how we understand faithfulness in the work God gives us. We often measure our faithfulness, or the value of our work, by its results, its success, its reception. But God measured Ezekiel's faithfulness by his faithfulness in doing what God gave him, not by the results. Whether the people heard or refused was not the measure of Ezekiel's faithfulness; his faithfulness lay in speaking God's words regardless. And so with us: our responsibility is faithfulness in what God gives us to do, not success in producing a favorable response, which is often beyond our control. It is required of stewards, Paul says, that they be found faithful; the measure is faithfulness, not results. This frees us from the tyranny of results and the discouragement of poor reception. If our faithfulness were measured by success, by favorable response, by visible results, we would be discouraged whenever these did not come, and tempted to compromise to produce them. But God measures our faithfulness by our faithfulness: by whether we did what he gave us to do, spoke the word, served, obeyed, regardless of the response. Ezekiel was to speak whether they heard or refused; his faithfulness did not depend on their response. Preach the word, Paul tells Timothy, in season and out of season; be faithful regardless of reception. This calls us to faithfulness in the work God gives, regardless of the response or results. God sent Ezekiel to speak his words whether the people heard or refused, measuring his faithfulness by his faithfulness in speaking, not by their response; and we too are called to faithfulness in what God gives us to do, whether or not it succeeds, whether or not it is favorably received, whether or not we see results. Our responsibility is to be faithful in doing what God gives us; the response and the results are in his hands. Let us be faithful, then, regardless of the reception, speaking, serving, and obeying as God gives us, and leaving the results to him, measuring our faithfulness not by success but by our faithfulness in the work he has given.

Do I measure my faithfulness, or the value of my work for God, by its results, success, or favorable reception, and grow discouraged or tempted to compromise when these do not come, and can God's commission to Ezekiel to speak his words whether the people heard or refused, measuring his faithfulness by his faithfulness in speaking rather than by their response, free me to be faithful in what God gives me to do regardless of the outcome, leaving the results in his hands and measuring my faithfulness not by success but by faithfulness?