Ezekiel's Baby And Wife Died, But He Kept Trying

Ezekiel 24:18, “So I spake unto the people in the morning: and at even my wife died; and I did in the morning as I was commanded.”

“It is easier to be faithful and succeed, than it is to be faithful trying to succeed.” —Pastor Jack Hyles

Pastor Jack Hyles - “DIE TRYING”

The Old Testament Babylonian captivity prophet, Ezekiel, could have used his wife's death as an excuse no to fulfill his duty for God, but Ezekiel kept on keeping on! He refused to quit or let anything hinder him from fulfilling his work for God.

The prophet Jeremiah was told that he would not succeed when he started. When God called Jeremiah to preach. the Lord told him that he would be a flop. Jeremiah went to prison. He was a flop as a prophet. God told Jeremiah that his people would reject him. Kings would oppose him. Jeremiah's family and country would oppose him. The prophet would face violence. He was lonely and misunderstood by the people. Jeremiah preached under 6 different kings for 41 years. He never had fire fall on Mount Carmel as did the prophet Elijah. He never build a great church. He never saw a great revival. But the prophet DIED TRYING!!!  Anybody can die trying, but not everybody can die a famous person. As men count success Jeremiah was a flop. After all was said and done, the Jews refused to listen to Jeremiah's preaching and judgment befell the people.

The prophet Ezekiel was told by God that he would be a flop. Ezekiel preached for 22 years and was told that he would never succeed. Ezekiel got married. She was a beautiful woman, which the Bible calls the desire of his eyes. Ezekiel 24:16, “Son of man, behold, I take away from thee the desire of thine eyes with a stroke: yet neither shalt thou mourn nor weep, neither shall thy tears run down.” Poor Ezekiel. They had a beautiful child, but the child died. Then Ezekiel's beloved wife suffered a stroke and died. But Ezekiel kept trying! That faithful man of God kept preaching to Jerusalem... “Judgment's going to come, get right with God!!!”

Ezekiel didn't hesitate when his wife died to continue as a Watchman, warning the people. No doubt his friends told him to take a break and go through the custom Days of Mourning, but Ezekiel refused and said: “God called me to preach. I MUST PREACH!!!” Ezekiel grabbed his Bible and went downtown to preach the next day, just like he always did. You may not be able to succeed, but you don't have to become a turncoat that quits. You can keep on going! If you get knocked down, GET BACK UP!!! Keep trying in Christ's strength. Philippians 4:13, “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.”

Ezekiel said in Ezekiel 24:18, “So I spake unto the people in the morning: and at even my wife died; and I did in the morning as I was commanded.” 

• At even my wife divorced me in 2006, but I did in the morning as I was commanded.
• At even I was unjustly fired from my job in 1991, when my wife was pregnant and then we had no health insurance, but I did in the morning as I was commanded.
• At even the state of Illinois in 2002 falsely accused us as parents for not drugging our child with dangerous prescription drugs, and our legal bills skyrocketed over $20,000, but I did in the morning as I was commanded.
• At even some punks in Chicago stole our family car in 2004 and smashed it into a telephone pole, totaling the car without insurance, but I did in the morning as I was commanded.
• At even I suffered a horrible permanent neck injury in 1992, and then again in 2004, but I did in the morning as I was commanded.
• At even I had my infected appendix removed in 1999, but I did in the morning as I was commanded.
• At even I had two major neck surgeries in 2009 and 2010, all alone by myself in the hospitals, wanting to die from loneliness, but I did in the morning as I was commanded.
• At even I had my infected gallbladder removed in 2015, but I did in the morning as I was commanded.
• At even I lost my house and home after the divorce, but I did in the morning as I was commanded.
• At even I was kicked out and banned from attending the wicked Harvest Baptist Church on Guam since 2014, for telling THE TRUTH, but I did in the morning as I was commanded.
• At even I was mistreated and then banned from attending the wicked Campus Church at Pensacola Christian College since 2021, for telling THE TRUTH, but I did in the morning as I was commanded.
• At even I suffer burning agonizing pain and tension in my neck continually without rest or relief, but I did in the morning as I was commanded.
• And innumerable other things...

GOD IS SO GOOD!!! We can all find excuses not to serve God, or to become sidetracked serving Christ. Anybody can quit, but a faithful man who can find? Proverbs 20:6, “Most men will proclaim every one his own goodness: but a faithful man who can find?” You may never achieve your dreams, nor obtain the success you had hoped, but you can die trying!

I will never be a loved as a Bible preacher the way that I want to. Billy Sunday said that a pastor comforts the afflicted, but an evangelist afflicts the comforted. I am doing the dirty work of an evangelist. I step on people's toes, especially the clergy. I am one of the most hated and loved preachers on social media. The atheists, skeptics, infidels, false prophets and carnal Christians criticize me at every turn; but those people who have been blessed by my humble labors for Christ, view my websites as a treasure-trove of useful information. God knows my heart, that I just want to be a blessing for my dear Savior. I want no money, and have refused donations when offered. I only want to see more people saved. I want to inspire Christians to become soulwinners. That is what really matters in life. My ministry is a labor of love.

Folks, if you don't try, you aren't going to amount to much. I really like Elon Musk. I know that he is an atheist, but I like his way of thinking as a pioneer of invention. NASA's official motto is: “Failure is not an option.” But Elon Musk disagrees with that, his motto instead is: “Failure is an option," because that is how we learn. Elon's first round of rockets all failed, blowing up and falling apart before they reached space orbit. Each rocket that exploded cost tens of millions of dollars! Elon's company almost ran out of money and failed, but Elon kept TRYING. He eventually got it right and was the first private entrepreneur to successfully launch a rocket into outer space. NASA then handed him a $1,600,000,000 contract to deliver supplies to The International Space Station. I love stories like that, of a man who refused to stop TRYING.

Pastor Jack Hyles taught me that failure + failure + failure + failure + failure + failure + failure + failure + failure + failure + failure + failure + failure + failure + failure + failure + failure + failure + failure + failure + failure + failure + failure + failure + failure + failure + failure = success (but only if you keep TRYING). Your never a failure because you fail, you're only a failure when you choose to make failure the last chapter in your book.

Jesus had a difficult life. He was born into poverty, in a manger with a bunch of farm animals in the hay. Jesus was born to a single mother with no husband, which brought reproach upon Mary and Joseph (because people didn't know that Jesus was born of a virgin by decree and a supernatural miracle of God almighty). The Bible says in the book of Isaiah that Jesus was a man of sorrows, rejected of men and acquainted with grief. I sure know that feeling, being rejected and shunned by umpteen churches. Go figure! Jesus was falsely accused by His very own people (the Jews) of being: mad (crazy), a bastard (a child of fornication), a deceiver and demon possessed. Whom do you say that Jesus is: lunatic, liar or Lord? I say Jesus is the omnipotent Lord, the blessed Christ, the dear only begotten Son of the Living God.

The famous inventor Thomas Edison failed 6,000 times before he finally succeeded to find a filament (tungsten) that didn't burn up when a current of electricity was passed through it, and the incandescent lightbulb was invented. Mr. Edison failed 6,000 times, but he refused to stop TRYING!!! What if he had given up and quit at 5,999 attempts? NEVER GIVE UP! FAILURE IS AN OPTION, just so long as you keep TRYING!!!

I will never be a popular missionary like Rick Martin in the Philippines. My picture will never be in the Sword Of The Lord newspaper. I will never surpass the massive success of Pastor Jack Hyles. I will never be invited to speak at a Baptist church. I am just a lone VOICE crying in the wilderness of cyberspace, like John the Baptist (after whom I am named; John is my middle name). I am just a layman with a few websites and blogs. I am just a VOICE, but I AM A VOICE!!!

Everybody can die trying. Google has censored 90% of my web traffic since 2015. In received 15,000,000 total visitors for 2015 at Jesus-is-Savior.com. Sadly, I only had about 1,000,000 visitors in 2021. Google did that! They didn't tell me why. I now have safety certificates for all my ministry websites. By next year, by God's grace after thousands of hours of diligent labor ahead of me, all of my 13,000 website articles will be Mobile Responsive (i.e., easy to be viewed on a mobile device). At present about 50% of my web visitors are using mobile devices to view my ministry websites. I thank that is awesome! Praise the Lord. Now if Google will just stop using Communist style Chinese censorship. At even I lost 90% of all my web traffic, but I did in the morning as I was commanded. I'm not giving up! I'm not going to slow down or work less! I am going to keep on TRYING and do all that I can in God's power to reach lost sinners with the Gospel of free grace! Amen and amen.

I think I have been infected with Omicron this week. I have a horrible chest cold, with upper respiratory congestion in my lungs. I became infected with the COVID-19 Delta variant last year. I lost all smell and taste for a few weeks. I suffered stabbing icepick headaches. Those are common symptoms of the Delta variant of COVID. In contrast, the Omicron variant doesn't cause loss of smell or taste, but it does cause a runny nose, headache, sore throat and upper chest congestion (I have all those symptoms). Thankfully, the Omicron variant is not as severe and goes away after 10 days. I have 5 more days. But I am still working right now at my computer on my ministry for Christ. At even I was sick with a bad flu, but I did in the morning as I was commanded. By God's grace I will not quit. I must keep TRYING. There is a cause.

Ezekiel 24:18, “So I spake unto the people in the morning: and at even my wife died; and I did in the morning as I was commanded.”