“The hand of the LORD was on me…and...by his Spirit…set me down in the middle of the valley; it was full of bones. He led me around them…and they were very dry. ‘Son of man, can these bones live?’ I replied, ‘Lord God, only you know.’” Ezekiel 37:1-3.
Over the past few years, it has been a season from heaven and hell for me. It has been my highest of highs spiritually speaking, but my lowest of lows in the earthly realm. I can relate to Ezekiel being set down right in the middle of a valley of dead bones. It was a season where I looked around and saw things drying up that previously flourished. It was one of the loneliest years I’ve ever experienced. There were certainly a few beautiful souls that God surrounded me with to lead me around in the valley. There were times I felt buried alive and questioned everything. I didn’t know what would result in the end, but I am so humbled and eternally grateful for the freedom God brought to me through this valley. He forced me to look at everything that previously motivated me, asking me ‘Can these bones live?’ He was showing me that things that used to hold power over me have no real power. No relationship can thrive without the breath of God…no circumstance can occur without His permission…nothing can have a pulse without the Creator’s hand. I have never been happier for a season to end. But, in some odd way there are melancholy moments where I reminisce about the moment to moment fellowship upon which I became so dependent. I was guilty of having the same attitude as the people in Ezekiel 37:11, “Look how they say, ‘Our bones are dried up, and our hope has perished.’ But God said, ‘Prophesy and say… ‘God says: I am going to open your graves and bring you up…and lead you into the land.’” (v. 12) God did just that! Once I began telling Him that my pleasure and approval was in Him, I began experiencing precious grace and life in places I thought were dead. I heard rumblings of mercy and grace was extended in unlikely places. Places where Satan had held power became the dried-up bones. I watched the beautiful exchange of dead things coming to life, and old attitudes drying up. I depend completely on God now who gives life and reconciles all things. I have so much more to learn, but I pray for my heart to be like an empty canvas, postured to have His beauty splashed upon its surface.
So, I ask you this morning, ‘Can your bones live?’ Can you reclaim your joy and walk with God out of your valley of dry bones? Can you claim with confidence that your past will no longer hold power over your present or future? Will you truly believe that whatever has dried up can be made yours again? Will you allow God to lead you around the dead bones, and show you how to bring the wounded parts of your heart to life again? Will you believe that He can ‘open up your graves and bring you up to a new land?’ You will never see life as you have seen it before once God restores those places in your heart that have been off limits to Him. He always goes after the most wounded parts of our hearts, with the loving intention of healing and walking in the freedom of His power.
“There was a noise, a rattling sound, and the bones came together, bone to bone… ‘Then you will know that I am the LORD. I have spoken, and I will do it.’” Ezekiel 37:13b
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