Think Carefully

I have not been as faithful in my devotions this month as I'd like to be, because holiday busyness crept in and..... So I am still in Ezekiel. And I was a bit distressed as I read this passage this morning:

The word of the LORD came to me: "Son of man, behold, I am about to take the delight of your eyes away from you at a stroke; yet you shall not mourn or weep, nor shall your tears run down. Sigh, but not aloud; make no mourning for the dead. Bind on your turban, and put your shoes on your feet; do not cover your lips, nor eat the bread of men."
Ezekiel 24:15-17

It seems apparent, since God refers to Ezekiel's wife as "the delight of your eyes", that Ezekiel loves his wife. Now God has been using Ezekiel as a living illustration in His prophecies against Israel, and some of them have been pretty bizarre, but this just seems over-the-top harsh. It's bad enough that the Lord is taking Ezekiel's wife, but the Lord forbids him to even grieve!!!
So I pondered a little more, and was reminded that we must not "pass judgement" on God.

For I will proclaim the name of the LORD; ascribe greatness to our God! "The Rock, his work is perfect, for all his ways are justice. A God of faithfulness and without iniquity, just and upright is he. They have dealt corruptly with him; they are no longer his children because they are blemished; they are a crooked and twisted generation. Do you thus repay the LORD, you foolish and senseless people? Is not he your father, who created you, who made you and established you? Remember the days of old; consider the years of many generations; ask your father, and he will show you, your elders, and they will tell you. When the Most High gave to the nations their inheritance, when he divided mankind, he fixed the borders of the peoples according to the number of the sons of God. But the LORD's portion is his people, Jacob his allotted heritage.
Deuteronomy 32:3-9

"Seek the LORD while he may be found; call upon him while he is near; let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the LORD, that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.
Isaiah 55:6-9