I Wish I Had Hair Like My Brother's

Part of my daily Bible reading for the last several days has been in Ezekiel.  Honestly, this book has always been quite mysterious to me.  I hope someday soon to do a serious study of it to get a better grasp.  But in the meantime, as I read, I am pleased when God causes certain things to stand out. 

That happened on Saturday when I came to Ezekiel 8.  This is what God's Word says in verses 1-4.

1It came about in the sixth year, on the fifth day of the sixth month, as I was sitting in my house with the elders of Judah sitting before me, that the hand of the Lord God fell on me there. 2Then I looked, and behold, a likeness as the appearance of a man; from His loins and downward there was the appearance of fire, and from His loins and upward the appearance of brightness, like the appearance of glowing metal. 3He stretched out the form of a hand and caught me by a lock of my head; and the Spirit lifted me up between earth and heaven and brought me in the visions of God to Jerusalem, to the entrance of the north gate of the inner court, where the seat of the idol of jealousy, which provokes to jealousy, was located. 4And behold, the glory of the God of Israel was there, like the appearance which I saw in the plain.

Did you see that in verse 3?  If I am reading it right, Ezekiel says that God grabbed him by his hair and dragged him to Jerusalem.  That sounds painful to say the least, but there was purpose in it- good purpose even.  Notice in verse 4 that when he gets to Jerusalem, he encounters the glory of God. 

In a way that is painful, God brings His prophet into His presence.

Now, I know that this was a vision and Ezekiel wasn't literally dragged by his hair.  I also know that this principle fits the biblical pattern that we are often uncomfortable with.  We want to see His glory while avoiding all pain.  Yet we know, from our own experience even, that many of our closest encounters with the Lord are accompanied by our greatest pain.

So, the question I have been wrestling with is this: If I want to see the Lord (and I do), then why do I try so hard to avoid all pain?  Worse yet, why do I so often assume that my pain is somehow an obstacle to an encounter with God rather than the vehicle by which He will draw me deeper into His presence?  Why do I so often say, "Lord, take it away" when I should be saying, "Lord, bring me to you?"

All of this reminds me of a song.  It's an old hymn that is hard to sing.  It's hard to sing not because of the music, but because of the truth it expresses.  Check it out here:

So, I wish I had hair like my brother's so that God can easily get hold of it to drag me into His presence. 

Can you think of some other biblical examples of this painful path into God's presence?
Can you think of some times in your own life when the path into His presence was painful?
Are you ready and willing to walk that painful path again?