I was listening to a song on the Passion CD, Awake My Soul by Chris Tomlin. The song intrigued me to read the passage of Scripture from which this song is taken and it really began to make sense to my heart. Below is a breakdown of what my heavenly Father showed me as I began to study over this passage. How He used this Scripture to give me comfort when things are seemingly out of control in my life. Also, when those around me have difficulties, I can have better wisdom of how to pray for them.
Very Dry Bones - This is me sometimes when circumstances get so great that I can not figure out how I can take another breath. Fear, pain, stress, depression... creeps in or crashes in like a tidal wave???
The Spirit of the Lord asked him - God drawing us into a conversation/relationship with Him.
Sovereign Lord - man's acknowledgement of who He is!
“Prophesy to these bones and say to them, ‘Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord! - the important words in this verse to me are "hear the word of the Lord"....we must have a heart that is willing to listen to the Father. Even in the toughest of times, even when our lives are so dry and brittle we will fall apart if someone says one more thing that we don't want to hear. To turn from the Father in our times of trouble, will only increase in a troubled heart.
In verse 11...God begins to say "I will..."
For me, there is so much peace when in my best days, my darkest days the Father says to me "I will..." and I can turn every emotion, thought, action over to Him. He is the Sovereign Lord and I am so thankful for His great love for me...even me. He loves me in spite of my short falls and mistakes. He picks me up when I am down, He delivers me from my fears, He never leaves me nor forsakes me. He is my all and all...He is the King of Kings! The Prince of Peace! The Everlasting Father! The Almighty One! The Beginning and the End! Praise be the to the Lamb of God...Forever and ever!
Ezekiel 37
New International Version (NIV)
The Valley of Dry Bones
37 The hand of the Lord was on 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. 2 He led me back and forth among them, and I saw a great many bones on the floor of the valley, bones that were very dry. 3 He asked me, “Son of man, can these bones live?”
I said, “Sovereign Lord, you alone know.”4 Then he said to me, “Prophesy to these bones and say to them, ‘Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord! 5 “Prophesy to these bones and say to them, ‘Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord! I will make breath[a] enter you, and you will come to life. 6 I will attach tendons to you and make flesh come upon you and cover you with skin; I will put breath in you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the Lord.’”
7 So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I was prophesying, there was a noise, a rattling sound, and the bones came together, bone to bone. 8 I looked, and tendons and flesh appeared on them and skin covered them, but there was no breath in them.
9 Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to it, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lordsays: Come, breath, from the four winds and breathe into these slain, that they may live.’” 10 So I prophesied as he commanded me, and breath entered them; they came to life and stood up on their feet—a vast army.
11 Then he said to me: “Son of man, these bones are the people of Israel. They say, ‘Our bones are dried up and our hope is gone; we are cut off.’ 12 Therefore prophesy and say to them: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: My people, I am going to open your graves and bring you up from them; I will bring you back to the land of Israel. 13 Then you, my people, will know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves and bring you up from them. 14 I will put my Spirit in you and you will live, and I will settle you in your own land. Then you will know that I the Lord have spoken, and I have done it, declares the Lord.’”
