"For skillful and godly Wisdom is better than rubies or pearls,
and all the things that may be desired are not to be compared with it." Proverbs 8:11 Amplified

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Valley of Dry Bones


Ezekiel 37:1 The hand of the Lord was upon me, and he brought me out by the Spirit of the Lord and set me in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones.

The Lord led Ezekiel to a valley filled with bones, bones that had been there a long time, they were dry, really, really dry.

Those bones had been there a while but Ezekiel didn’t know they were there until the Lord took him to the valley and showed him. God wanted Ezekiel to do something about the dry bones. He wanted Ezekiel to talk to the situation.

Is God trying to take you to a valley in your life to show you dry bones, ones that you are not aware are there? If He is, it is because he wants you to speak to those dry bones, to those situations in your life that you believe are hopeless.

With God on your side nothing is hopeless. Your words will determine your outcome.

God asked Ezekiel a question, “Son of man, can these bones live?”
Ezekiel saw an impossible situation but he didn’t speak out what he saw. His answer was, “O Sovereign Lord, you alone know the answer to that.”

Ezekiel started out by recognizing who God was; then he acknowledged that God was the one who had the answer. God told Ezekiel to speak to the bones. That must have clued Ezekiel into the miracle that was about to take place.

God commanded him to speak what was necessary for the bones to become living people, the bones needed tendons on them and flesh to come upon them and to be covered with skin. Ezekiel spoke to those dry bones and told them what needed to happen.

When you speak to your situation, your dry bones, be specific, not general. If you are in need of finances be specific about the amount you need. If you pray and say, “God, I need some money.” God can prompt someone to give you $5.00. He has answered your prayer. But you had in your mind that you really needed $200.00 so your electricity doesn’t get turned off. Yes, God does know that you need $200.00 and he could give it to you but he wants you to be specific in your spoken words. If I go to Starbucks (where I am writing this, I gave myself a treat) and I say I want a grande coffee, and that is what they give me, I certainly can’t complain that I didn’t get the cinnamon dolce latte that I really wanted – I got what I SPOKE.

When Ezekiel spoke to those dry bones he got what he spoke. The bones now had tendons, flesh and skin. God told him he had one more thing to do. He had to speak again for it to be completed. If he would have stopped at this point all he would have had was a bunch of bodies. They had no life yet.

When speaking to your situation don’t stop before it is complete. When Ezekiel spoke to those dry bones we don’t know how long it took for the tendons, flesh and skin to appear. Did it happen instantly, did it take a day, a week, a year? We don’t know. Ezekiel spoke the last step as God commanded, he stayed to completion.

Ezekiel 37:10 “So I spoke as He commanded me, and the wind entered the bodies, and they began to breathe. They came to life and stood up on their feet-a great army of them.”

What dry bones situation is going on in your life? Speak what God would say to that situation. You will have what you say, so say what you want.

Thank you to Coleen Shaw Voeks for the picture

4 comments:

Bonnie Doran said...

Thanks for the unique devotional. It gives me a helpful perspective on my dry writing issues, no bones about it!

Diane Marie Shaw said...

Nice pun. Hope it can be a help to you Bonnie. You certainly aren't dry with the posts on your blogspot. They are always creative.
http://prosefromthepros.blogspot.com/

smithsk said...

How can I top Bonnie's comment? I can't.

This is a great post, Diane. It is a blessing to those who are in a troubled, hopeless situation. Our hope is God, who is the resurrection and the life ...
Susan

Unknown said...

Beautifully written, Diane. We all walk through dry valleys on our journey to a deeper faith. One Bible teacher thinks that these bones my actually be referring to the victims of the Holocaust. The Lord wants to transform our valley experiences into rich times of blessings, to give us beauty for ashes. When we think our writing is not worth much, or the ink well has run dry, He is the new ink pouring into our well. Imagine what an army of writers would rise up if we each grasp this concept every morning and wield the pen like our faith depends on it.