Why Suffering Isn’t Random: Trusting God’s Sovereignty in Hard Times | Ezekiel 22 Devotional

 Why Does God Allow Suffering 😒

7-Step QT

  1. πŸ™ Quiet Time

  2. πŸ“… August 25, 2025

  3. ✝️ Ezekiel 22:1-16

  4. πŸ“– And you shall be profaned by your own doing in the sight of the nations, and you shall know that I am the LORD (v. 16).

  5. πŸ“ People rarely see suffering as linked to their own sin. Many blame luck or circumstances, while some rely on self-effort. The wise reflect and seek change. God’s people should recognize His sovereignty, pray humbly, and trust Him fully—because His discipline flows from love and grace, not rejection.

  6. πŸ’¬ What does this passage speak to you today?

  7. πŸ™ Share below, and let’s encourage one another in prayer!

7-Step QT Notes

1. πŸ™ Quiet Time

Pause.
Take a deep breath.
Ask God to help you see His holiness and mercy—even when life feels heavy or confusing.

2. πŸ“… August 25, 2025

Today’s passage reminds us:
Ignoring God always leads to brokenness—but His goal is restoration, not destruction.

God exposes sin not to shame us, but to bring us back to Him.

3. ✝️ Ezekiel 22:1–16

Israel had turned away from God—violence, corruption, and idolatry filled the land.
God says He will scatter them among the nations so they will know that He is the LORD.
It sounds harsh, but this is God’s tough love:
He allows consequences so His people will return to Him.

4. πŸ“– Key Verse

“And you shall be profaned by your own doing in the sight of the nations, and you shall know that I am the LORD.” (v.16)

5. πŸ“ Reflection

We live in a culture that says:
“Do what feels right. You’re in control.”

But when we ignore God, life eventually falls apart—relationships break, anxiety grows, and emptiness sets in.
God doesn’t expose our sin to crush us.
He does it to heal us and bring us back to Himself.
Your worth isn’t in your success, your relationship status, or your hustle.
It’s in being God’s beloved child.

6. πŸ’¬ What does this passage speak to you today?

  • Where am I trusting my own way instead of God’s?
  • What’s one area I need to surrender to Him this week?
  • How can I remind myself that God’s correction is an act of love, not rejection?

7. πŸ™ Prayer

God, thank You for loving me enough to call me back when I wander.
Help me trust Your discipline as a sign of Your grace.
Teach me to walk in Your ways and find life in You alone.
Amen

Scriptures

πŸ“– 1 And the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 2 “And you, son of man, will you judge, will you judge the bloody city? Then declare to her all her abominations. 3 You shall say, Thus says the Lord GOD: A city that sheds blood in her midst, so that her time may come, and that makes idols to defile herself! 4 You have become guilty by the blood that you have shed, and defiled by the idols that you have made, and you have brought your days near, the appointed time of your years has come. Therefore I have made you a reproach to the nations, and a mockery to all the countries. 5 Those who are near and those who are far from you will mock you; your name is defiled; you are full of tumult.

6 “Behold, the princes of Israel in you, every one according to his power, have been bent on shedding blood. 7 Father and mother are treated with contempt in you; the sojourner suffers extortion in your midst; the fatherless and the widow are wronged in you. 8 You have despised my holy things and profaned my Sabbaths. 9 There are men in you who slander to shed blood, and people in you who eat on the mountains; they commit lewdness in your midst. 10 In you men uncover their fathers’ nakedness; in you they violate women who are unclean in their menstrual impurity. 11 One commits abomination with his neighbor’s wife; another lewdly defiles his daughter-in-law; another in you violates his sister, his father’s daughter. 12 In you they take bribes to shed blood; you take interest and profit and make gain of your neighbors by extortion; but me you have forgotten, declares the Lord GOD.

13 “Behold, I strike my hand at the dishonest gain that you have made, and at the blood that has been in your midst. 14 Can your courage endure, or can your hands be strong, in the days that I shall deal with you? I the LORD have spoken, and I will do it. 15 I will scatter you among the nations and disperse you through the countries, and I will consume your uncleanness out of you. 16 And you shall be profaned by your own doing in the sight of the nations, and you shall know that I am the LORD.” (Ezek 22:1-16, ESV).

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