Reverend Charles E. Ellis Jr. is a gifted Bible teacher and pastor, and a dear friend of Pastor Lauderdale and Mt. Zion. We are grateful that he shared this powerful message with us.
Watch Rev. Ellis’ full message on YouTube.
Scripture: Ezekiel 16:1–6
Have you ever felt forgotten?
Rejected. Discarded. Like life has passed you by while everyone else moved ahead.
Maybe you have wondered whether God still sees you—or whether your mistakes, your pain, or your past have permanently defined your future.
If that is where you find yourself today, hear this word from God:
Live.
That is the powerful message found in Ezekiel 16, where God paints one of the Bible’s most unforgettable pictures of His grace.
Ezekiel describes an abandoned newborn left alone in an open field.
No one wanted her. No one cared for her. She was dirty, helpless, and left to die.
Then everything changed.
God walked by.
He did not wait until she was cleaned up. He did not ask whether she deserved saving. He simply looked at her and declared:
“Live.”
That single word changed everything.
God’s grace always begins before we deserve it.
“God looked beyond the mess and simply said, ‘Live.’”
One of the most encouraging truths in this passage is that God did not wait until the baby’s circumstances improved.
She was still abandoned. Still messy. Still helpless. Still lying in the same field.
Yet God’s word came anyway.
That is often how God works.
We keep thinking, “When I get my life together, then I’ll come to God.”
But Scripture tells the opposite story.
God meets us exactly where we are. He speaks life while we are still in the middle of the struggle.
“God speaks to your future while you’re still in your mess.”
Many people look perfectly fine on the outside while carrying unimaginable burdens inside.
Some are smiling while silently breaking. Some are successful while privately exhausted. Some have convinced themselves they simply have to survive another day.
Henry David Thoreau describes this as living lives of quiet desperation.
It is a powerful reminder that we never truly know what another person is carrying.
That is why followers of Christ are called to become people who offer hope instead of judgment.
Sometimes our presence means more than our words. Sometimes simply sitting beside someone reminds them that they are not alone.
“God speaks life when nobody else has anything to say.”
Faith does not require us to pretend that we are never overwhelmed.
Prayer matters. Scripture matters. The support of a church family matters. God may also provide counselors, therapists, doctors, trusted friends, pastors, and other people who can help us work through what we are carrying.
There is no shame in telling someone that you are hurting.
There is no weakness in asking for help.
Even people who spend their lives caring for others sometimes need someone to care for them.
“Sometimes your presence means more than anything you could say.”
When God spoke to that abandoned child, He was not describing her present condition.
He was declaring her future.
God always sees what we cannot see.
He sees beyond failure. Beyond addiction. Beyond shame. Beyond rejection. Beyond broken relationships. Beyond today’s circumstances.
He speaks according to His purpose—not according to our current condition.
Jeremiah reminds us that God knows the plans He has for His people—plans for peace, hope, and a future.
“Your current season is not your final destination.”
God did not speak baby talk to the abandoned child in Ezekiel 16.
He spoke a word that reached beyond her present condition.
He said, “Live.”
God was speaking to what she could not yet see. He was speaking to a life she had not yet experienced and a future she could not yet imagine.
We need people around us who will speak life—not empty words, shallow clichés, or promises they cannot guarantee.
We need words rooted in the truth of God.
Words that remind us that God still loves us. God still sees us. God is still working. Our story is not over.
“God speaks life in language that reaches beyond your present location.”
Some people believe they must get their lives right before they can come to church or approach God.
But if we waited until we had everything right, none of us would ever come.
God does not wait for us to become perfect before He calls us.
He speaks while we are still struggling. He meets us while we are still confused. He reaches for us while we are still surrounded by the consequences of our decisions.
Then He begins the work of cleaning us up, turning us around, and placing our feet on solid ground.
“You don’t have to get right before coming to God. Come to God, and let Him begin making you right.”
The message of Ezekiel ultimately points us toward Jesus Christ.
Before Jesus went to Calvary, He entered the Garden of Gethsemane—a place associated with crushing olives to release their oil.
Jesus experienced the crushing weight of sorrow, suffering, betrayal, and sacrifice.
He willingly entered our broken world. He experienced rejection. He endured the cross. He died and was placed in a borrowed tomb.
But early Sunday morning, He rose with all power.
Jesus died so that we could live.
Because of His death and resurrection, we do not have to remain trapped by our past, condemned by our failures, or controlled by hopelessness.
“Jesus went through the crushing so that broken people could live.”
Other people may define you by your failures. God defines you by His grace.
Your current season is not your final destination. God already sees what He is preparing you to become.
You do not have to clean yourself up before coming to Christ. Come as you are and allow Him to begin the transforming work.
Perhaps you have spent years believing what other people have said about you.
Maybe you have believed what your past says about you—or the lies you have repeated to yourself.
Today, hear something different.
Hear God’s voice.
Not condemnation. Not rejection. Not failure.
One powerful command:
Live.
When God speaks life, hope begins.
“Other people may define you by your failures. God defines you by His grace.”
Watch “God Said Live” on YouTube
Looking for hope, biblical encouragement, and a church family that will welcome you?
Join us at Mt. Zion Missionary Baptist Church, located at 1400 Pierce Street in Sioux City, Iowa. Sunday worship begins at 10:15 AM.
Reverend Charles E. Ellis Jr. is a gifted Bible teacher and pastor, and a dear friend of Pastor Lauderdale and Mt. Zion. We are grateful that he shared this powerful message with us.
