Dried Bones

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Have you read the story about God bringing dry bones to life? Listen to this:

God grabbed me. God’s Spirit took me up and set me down in the middle of an open plain strewn with bones. He led me around and among them—a lot of bones! There were bones all over the plain—dry bones, bleached by the sun…

God, the Master, told the dry bones, “Watch this: I’m bringing the breath of life to you and you’ll come to life. I’ll attach sinews to you, put meat on your bones, cover you with skin, and breathe life into you. You’ll come alive and you’ll realize that I am God!” …and, oh, rustling! The bones moved and came together, bone to bone. I kept watching. Sinews formed, then muscles on the bones, then skin stretched over them. But they had no breath in them. …The breath entered them and they came alive! They stood up on their feet, a huge army.

Then God said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Listen to what they’re saying: ‘Our bones are dried up, our hope is gone, there’s nothing left of us.’

…I’ll breathe my life into you and you’ll live. Then I’ll lead you straight back to your land and you’ll realize that I am God. I’ve said it and I’ll do it.’” Ezekiel 37:1-14, The Message

What a sight that must have been! God brought dry bones to life, as only He could do. But this also gives a picture of God’s children whose hope is dead. As a people, they had no life and no chance of life—except through God!

I have been at the end of myself—have you? You feel afraid and even depressed, with no way out. But God Himself is the way out. He does not want my good ideas, or my effort, or my reasoning to get me out. He wants me. He wants me to rest in Him, to trust Him, to let Him carry me out so “you’ll realize I am God.” That’s a really good idea. No matter where I find myself, I’ll burrow more deeply into Him, and let Him be God.