Hopeless and Cut Off

"He said to me, 'Son of man, can these bones live?' And I answered, 'O Lord God, You know' ... Then He said to me, 'Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel; behold, they say, ‘Our bones are dried up and our hope has perished. We are completely cut off.'" Ezekiel 37:3,11.


We might say that He is the God of rhetorical questions. His questions are asked for our benefit, because He already knows the answer. He asks that He might draw us in to reason together with Him.

 

Ezekiel was confronted with a vision of a large valley of dead, dry bones; long devoid of any life. To ask that they might live seems like a preposterous question, and yet God's question is designed to stir up seemingly unlikely possibilities.   

Ezekiel's response was wise: "O Lord God, You know." To the natural reasoning mind, the answer seemed obvious, but Ezekiel's response reflected an expectant faith. Indeed, God did cause the dry bones to come together, and He placed sinews, flesh and skin upon them, as well as the breath of life in them. He explained that the house of Israel was represented in these, which was currently a cut off people without hope.

There are times when we feel hopeless and cut off, as dead and dry as a valley of dry bones. But God also challenges us to consider that there is new life and possibilities. We do well to respond as did Ezekiel: "O Lord God, You know."

 

The God of all possibilities can take the most hopeless circumstances and turn them into living realities. That message is reinforced time and time again through the miracles recorded in the Bible - the parting of the Red Sea, manna in the wilderness, water from a rock, meals from breadcrumbs, resurrection from death. The living God specializes in life from death.

 

Through faith today may we see beyond our valley of dry bones to the living reality that is possible only through the God of all possibilities.

©Steve Taylor, 2023 --Used by permission

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