pastorjohnb

Thoughts and musings on faith and our mighty God!

Tag Archives: dry


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Breath and Hope

Reading: Ezekiel 37: 1-14

Verse 14: I will put my Spirit in you and you will live.

Ezekiel is living amongst and speaking to a people living in exile.  They were carried off long ago and feel as if they have been living in exile forever.  The people of Israel cry out, “Our bones are dried up and our hope is gone; we are cut off”.  There is great sadness in these verses.  It is very difficult to live without hope.

As Ezekiel prophesies, the scattered bones come together as tendon, flesh, and skin covers them.  They are capable of having life now but there is no breath in them.  They are flesh and bone, but that is all.  At this point they represent Israel in exile.  Living but not truly having life can also represent many we know ourselves.  Yes, they are physically alive – they go to work, spend time with their families and friends, maybe even play on your softball team.  But they only know earthly life; they do not know or live for anything outside of the here and now.

For the Israelites in exile, life has become about simply surviving in the day to day.  They are barely getting by.  They feel ‘cut off completely’ from God and all they knew back home.  It is hard to live without hope and they are fast losing hope.  God instructs Ezekiel to prophesy that the breath of God enter the dry bones and flesh so that they would have life.  Ezekiel does this and a vast army arises.  This is the vision Ezekiel brings back to the people living in exile, to a people fast losing hope.  In this, the people know that God has heard their cry and that He will respond.  It brings much needed hope to the nation of Israel.

In a very similar way, we too can offer hope to those we know who are alive but only in the earthly sense.  We too can share the hope that comes when one lives with Jesus as Lord and Savior.  We too can share the joy that comes when the Spirit of God enters our hearts and brings us each the hope of eternal life.  May we each seek to be spreaders of the Word of God to those living in exile, so that they too may know abundant life in Christ in this place and eternal life with Him in the life to come.


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Hope and Restoration

Reading: Ezekiel 37: 1-14

Verse 3: He asked me, “Son of man, can these bones live”?

Ezekiel walks and walks amongst​ the dry bones.  There are literally millions of Bones strewn across the valley – enough to make a vast army.  As he walks among the bones, to him they are at first just dry old bones scattered across the valley.  There are no grave markers to identify who exactly is where.  These bones are symbolic of Israel.  The bones and their dryness indicate the state of Israel in exile.  They are long in exile and have lost touch with the faith and with God.  The bones coming back to life and standing as a vast army is symbolic of how God will bring His people out if exile one day and will restore them as a nation.

In sending Ezekiel among the dry bones, God is acknowledging the state of affairs with His chosen people.  All are cognizant that their choices, their sins, have led to where they currently find themselves.  It is what it is.  But in this vision, God is saying, “I am not done with you yet.  This is not the end of the story.  I will restore you.  I love you”.  God see what will be once again.  God wants to share this hope with Ezekiel, His prophet to the people, so that the people can hold onto and look towards hope and restoration.

Isn’t this still the story today?  Isn’t this still the message that all who are ‘dry’ or are out in the valley need to hear today?  There are lots of people who feel lost or not connected to God.  They desperately need the breath of life to breathe into them.  There are lots who feel defeated.  They need God to pick them up, to strengthen them, so that they can stand once again.  There are others who feel that God has forgotten or abandoned them.  They need to be reconnected to the source of life.  There are many who need to hear the story.  There are many.  Who will you share the story if hope and restoration with today?


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Step into the Desert

Reading: Psalm 63: 1-8

The desert or wilderness is a common location in the Bible.  A sinful Adam and Eve were sent out into the wilderness.  The Israelites wander in the desert for forty years, constantly testing God and then repenting.  It was in the wilderness that John baptized and that Jesus was tempted.  At times in our lives we too find ourselves in the desert.

In the psalmist today, David experiences the desert as a dry and weary land.  It is tough to survive in the desert; we are tested in that struggle to survive.  In those dry seasons in the desert or out in the harsh wilderness, we feel tested and we often long for relief.  For David, the physical thirst in the desert reminded him of his spiritual thirst for God.  Our times in the desert reminded us too of our need for God.  In verses 2-8 we read over and over of David’s singing to and glorifying God for His power, love, provision, and strength.  In our dry seasons we too can experience these blessings of God.  He longs to pour them out upon us as well.

Lent is a time when we remember Jesus’ forty days in the wilderness.  Lent invites us to join Jesus there as well. In the desert we can more clearly see the temptations we are facing.  In the desert we can come to rely more on God in those battles.

The desert can be a beautiful place as well.  In the stillness of the desert we can more easily hear His voice.  In the vast, wide open expanse we can more easily experience His majesty.  In the dark night sky we can see the splendor and might of His creation.

Maybe we find ourselves in the desert for an unpleasant reason.  If so, allow that deep need for God to be honestly felt and then joyously welcome Him in.  If our time in the desert is by choice, revel in God’s power, might, and presence.  Step into the desert, embrace it.  In a space with just you and God, draw close to Him.  Be blessed.