Wow!!! Day 21! Thank you for following along with me.
On Easter Sunday, Elevation Church sang a song called Rattle. Since then, I’ve been thinking a lot about the story of the dry bones in Ezekiel. This morning I went to the passage in Ezekiel 37:1-14.
God takes Ezekiel down to the middle of a valley where it was full of bones. Very dry bones. God then tells Ezekiel to prophesy over the bones and when Ezekiel does as the Lord says, the bones begin to rattle and come together. Not only do the bones come together, tendons and skin begin to appear. Then God tells Ezekiel to prophesy again in verse 9 which says,
“Then He said to me, “Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, Thus says the Lord God: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live.”
So Ezekiel did as God said, and breath came into them and they lived and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army (vs.10)!!
Could you imagine??? Stop and think for a minute. Dry bones, turned into flesh and came to life! And not only that, God used a mortal to do it. Ezekiel obeyed and did as God said and watched this unfold right in front of him.
God told Ezekiel that this army, these bones, represented the people of Israel. They were dry, feeling cut off from God and without hope. He promised that He would bring them back to the land of Israel and that He would put His Spirit within them so that they could live.
I began to think about how all of this happened in the middle of the valley. Many of us find ourselves in a valley right now. We are going through struggles, hardships and tough circumstances. We are trying our best to hold on to our faith, but each week as life gets harder we can feel our faith weaken. We are like those dry bones. We feel cut off from God, dry and parched and have began to lose our hope.
In verse 4, God tells Ezekiel to prophesy over those bones by telling them, “O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord.” And I believe that God wants us to do the same. He wants us to Hear the word of the Lord and to declare it over our lives. God wants you to live. If you are a follower of Christ, His Holy Spirit is within you and He says live. 1 Peter 2:16 says that the will of God is for us to live as people who are free. He’s brought you back to life and has placed His spirit within you. You can be free of whatever is holding you down. You can live and be filled with hope. And that hope is Jesus.
Just as God took those bones and put them back together and gave them life, He can do the same with you and your situation. He can restore and redeem the broken areas in your life. I love the saying, “there’s nothing too far gone for God.” I’ve lived far from God and I’ve experienced His embrace and love when I came back to Him. He will not turn His back on you, He will love you and accept you just as you are.
Whatever is broken in your life right now whether it’s your finances, relationships, or your heart- God can restore it. He is faithful and He will do it. Hear His Word today and declare life over your situation.
Dear Lord, help us live a life fully surrendered to you. Help us continue to trust that you are working in our lives even when we don’t feel you or see you. Lord, help us live the way you’ve called us to live. Help us walk in the freedom that you’ve given us. Thank you Jesus for coming to save us so that we could live a life to the fullest in you. I pray that you will restore the areas in our life that are broken. Lord I believe that you can pick up the pieces and create something even more beautiful than what was there before.