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He asked me,

“Daughter of man

Can these bones live?”

~Ezekiel 37:3

 

Good morning dear sister!

How are your bones today? Did you leap out of bed in joyful anticipation of the day or did you kind of creak out of bed and hope for the best?

Brother Ezekiel, being a prophet, probably saw his share of strange things in his day. How would you reply if the Lord asked you, “Daughter of man, can these bones live?” as you observed a vast expanse of scattered and jumbled dried up bones? For most of us, the most obvious and logical answer would be a flat “NO!”, perhaps with an ‘ewwww’ thrown in. 

The dry, dead bones that Ezekiel saw had been laying in a desert place for a long time! How could they possibly live again? Ezekiel gave a wise answer as he replied, “Sovereign Lord. You alone know.”

Thousands of years later, we too, give the same reply to the Lord when looking at a seemingly hopeless situation.

We either shake our heads with a sigh, and breathe out something like “Lord only knows….” without an ounce of hope or faith. Or hopefully, we look to the Lord expectantly, knowing He can do anything He wills, and humbly reply, “Sovereign Lord, You alone know!”

Ezekiel didn’t let what was before his eyes discourage him! He recognized that the God of all flesh was communicating with him! God was pleased with Ezekiel’s answer and took him to the next step of faith.

When we are looking at a hopeless situation, we need to hear God’s voice in that moment to give Him a proper response too. A response of faith! A declaration of assurance that perhaps sounds like “Lord, I don’t know what’s going on, but You know and I trust You to lead me!

When we express our willingness to follow, we begin to see the hand of God at work! We begin to see miracles when we stop questioning God and start moving in faith, obedience and trust!

As Ezekiel entrusted the outcome to the Lord, God instructed him to prophecy to the bones and say to them, “Dry bones, hear the word of the LORD!” God didn’t expect the powerless words of Ezekiel, His servant to speak life to the bones. It was God’s own spoken, living and active Word that brought life a second time to those dried up, dead bones!

Ezekiel learned at least two powerful lessons that are just as powerful for us today!

We too can learn to listen for the Word of the Lord, then do what He tells us to doI

Obedience to His Word leads to more and more reliance on God’s ways and less on our own ways. We develop discernment and our faith is enlarged and strengthened. We begin to trust God’s judgement more than our own.

In the same way, God doesn’t expect us to do His work in our own strength either! That would be impossible! “For man, this is impossible, but with God, all things are possible!” (Mt 19:26) He will help us, through the same power of His Word that brought the heavens and the earth into existence! The same Word that brings light and life into being! The same Word that is our salvation! Hallelujah!

Whatever the ‘dry bones’ in our lives today may be, the Lord is waiting for us to come to Him for help, wisdom and assurance. He wants to build our faith and shepherd our growth until we are complete in Him! (Col 10:9) 

And, remember, dear sister, it’s not only the devastating moments when we need to hear Him, but faith and wisdom for the everyday things of life too. Our Abba is with us every moment of every day! He gives us breath without asking and a heart that keeps beating so we can seek Him and find Him for all the other needs of our lives! We don’t live life on our own, and we don’t own the life we live. Jesus came to us to give us life, and that abundantly! (Jn 10:10)

Are your bones feeling less creaky? Let the oil of joy and gladness lubricate those dry bones and see what the Lord can bring to life! Hallelujah!

Keep loving Jesus and moving forward!

With love, your sister, Celeste