Do you ever feel like the proverbial fish out of water, especially when it comes to your faith? I believe we all do at some time or another. We want to fit in. We want to be popular ... or at least liked. And, to be honest, for the most part, our faith doesn't require much of us. We dress like everyone else, talk pretty much like everyone else (hopefully not using some of the more "colorful" words in the dictionary), go to the same restaurants, and enjoy the same hobbies. But, then, occasionally something happens. Someone does or says something or we are asked to do something that deep down we know isn't what God would want us to say or do. Then faith gets sticky. 

That happened to the prophet Ezekiel (an admittedly hard book of the Bible to read, let alone understand). By the rivers of Babylon, Ezekiel sat like a fish out of water. Despite all the glitz and glamour of Babylon, he didn’t fit in there. He was living in a world that didn’t match his identity. But what could Ezekiel do? 

That’s when Ezekiel had a vision of God. Ezekiel had lots of visions, something that hasn't happened to me. But, I've had times when I've felt the presence - or absence - of God in my life. One truth that Ezekiel learned from his visions was that God was with him, even in Babylon. Ezekiel had thought that when the nation of Israel was conquered and the temple in Jerusalem was destroyed, God had deserted him and the people of Israel. Nothing, however, was further from the truth. Even though many of the people lived their lives without thinking about God - and suffered the consequences for the choices they made - God never left them. 

When he was at his lowest and needed God the most, that was the moment when Ezekiel discovered his identity in a world where he didn’t fit. His identity came not from within himself or the society around him, but from beyond, from the God who created him in his image and gave him his identity. Ezekiel learned he could live in Babylon but could stay true to what God was calling him to be. 

Ezekiel's lesson is a good one for us. We won't always fit in - or at least we shouldn't - and there will be decisions we will need to make when it comes to following Christ. But God will stand with us if we let him. Where does your identity come from?