"Eternal One (to Ezekiel ): Son of man, do you think these bones can live? Ezekiel: Eternal Lord, certainly you know the answer better than I do." (Ezekiel 37:3).
In a previous post I talked about how God sets our feet in the valley of dry bones. We learned that just like Ezekiel, we were set in the middle of the valley for a purpose and that we were not intended to stay stuck in the valley of dry bones. We talked about how God walks with us through each pile of bones or circumstance that we go through in our hard seasons in the valley and how he wants to bring us to a place to see the wonder working power of God's spirit.
Today I would like to continue our study of Ezekiel and talk about how God can bring hope to our situations when there seems to be no hope. But before we get there, we need to first talk about the life giving, power of the spirit of God. And what better way to start talking about the life God's spirit brings than by asking ourselves the question that God asks Ezekiel in the valley.
I mentioned before that my family has gone through a very hard season with my mom's passing and now with my grandfather's brain cancer this year. My grandfather was in the hospital for two months because of a stroke that he had. During his stay at the hospital, the doctors had kept him for further testing to see what was happening to his brain. In that room where he waited for weeks to get the results back from the tests that the doctors had him do, my grandfather also was battling feelings of loneliness and intense grief because of all that he had endured already with losing his daughter and his two sisters just weeks from each other. The enemy really attacked my grandfather on all sides in that hospital room, physically, spiritually, and emotionally. Then on top of what he was dealing with already with grief and a stroke, he was then told that he was yet again being attacked by the enemy with brain cancer as well. And even more on top of all of that, he is told that he only has six months to live.
For me, hearing this news was devastating. My family had already endured so much and I didn't understand why God was having us walk through another pile of bones in the valley. It was then that I finally hit a place where I felt like I had no hope left. I was left in a place in where I felt like God had left me sitting there, stuck in the valley, completely surrounded by the piles of bones that have been collecting around me.
If you are currently in a similar situation today where all hope feels lost, I want to encourage you that this is not the end of the story. Our God is faithful and can do exceedingly and abundantly more than what we can even ask or think. Our God is a God of life giving power. We can put our hope in him even when our situations look hopeless. The way that we regain our hope in Christ is by asking Jesus to help us see his goodness and faithfulness with our spiritual eyes. I believe this is why God asks Ezekiel the question about the dry bones coming alive.
Imagine being in a place so desolate and full of death as the valley of dry bones. I can't even imagine what Ezekiel might have been feeling in that moment. But I find it interesting that God asks Ezekiel "Son of man, do you think these bones can live?". What I find interesting about this question is that it is not a question of hopelessness. God wanted Ezekiel to be a witness to the literal breath of God that gave life to the bones in the valley. It was used to get Ezekiel's attention and teach him to wait in anticipation to see what the power of God could do in the valley. Ezekiel replies to God's question by saying that only God knew whether the bones could live. After this, God begins to prepare Ezekiel so that he can see the miracle that God is going to do in the valley.
I want to encourage you and tell you that God is walking with you through your circumstances. We can put our hope in God because he is the God of miracles and I believe he still does miracles to this day. The spirit of God can and will use our circumstances for his glory and will turn it for good. Even when we can't see him working right now with our physical eyes, we can trust that he is working to prepare you to receive the amazing miracle that he has planned for you. And God will use these miracles not only to show you that God loves you, but so that we can also show the love of God and the power of his life giving spirit to someone else who might need to hear that there is hope in the middle of the valley of their circumstances when all else seems hopeless.
Dear Lord, I ask that you would help me to remember that even when I am sitting in the valley, feeling surrounded by all of these dry bones situations that make me feel as though everything is hopeless, that you are a God of miracles and I can put my hope in you. I ask that you help me to see with my spiritual eyes and not my physical eyes so that I can wait in anticipation of the goodness of God and the life that you want to breathe to bring healing and restoration to the situations in my valley. Please use the miracle that you have for my life to be a witness and a testimony to someone else who needs to know that there is a God who loves them and wants to bring them life and hope. In Jesus name, Amen.
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