Dry Bones

“We call out to dry bones come alive, we call out to dead hearts come alive.”

When I first heard Come Alive by Lauren Daigle I was in complete awe. The song struck a cord with me. I couldn’t shake it. I sang it over and over in my head, listened to it on repeat, and belted it around my house more times than I care to admit. It just moved me! Although, until I heard Lauren explain it herself I am unsure that I was completely clear on what the song was saying.

“Lets write this song for that mom who is praying for her son. That mom that is sitting there every night just weeping before the Lord saying, “God take my son back into your arms.””

Then it clicked why I connected with this song so much. I have been vigorously praying for lost loved ones. The writers wanted to put courage into those, like me, who are actively watching the prodigals around them, fervently praying for the Lord to bring them back. The theme of the song, dry bones, came from Ezekiel 37:

“The hand of the Lord came upon me and brought me out in the Spirit of the Lord, and set me down in the midst of the valley; and it was full of bones. Then He caused me to pass by them all around, and behold, there were very many in the open valley; and indeed they were very dry. And He said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?”
So I answered, “O Lord God, You know.”
Again He said to me, “Prophesy to these bones, and say to them, ‘O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord! Thus says the Lord God to these bones: “Surely I will cause breath to enter into you, and you shall live. I will put sinews on you and bring flesh upon you, cover you with skin and put breath in you; and you shall live. Then you shall know that I am the Lord.”’”
So I prophesied as I was commanded; and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and suddenly a rattling; and the bones came together, bone to bone. Indeed, as I looked, the sinews and the flesh came upon them, and the skin covered them over; but there was no breath in them.
Also He said to me, “Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live.”’” So I prophesied as He commanded me, and breath came into them, and they lived, and stood upon their feet, an exceedingly great army.” Ezekiel 37:1-10

As I set and ponder life this morning I have come to a realization: as Christians, we ask big things of God. Why shouldn’t we? After all he is a BIG God. We ask him to do things such as healing sick loved ones, changing someone’s heart, bringing prodigals home, and so much more. The aweing thing is, so often he does it, at least in a round about way. So, then why are we so appalled when He asks us to do big things? How big are those things he really asks us to do compared to the things we ask of Him?

He replied, “Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.” Matthew 17:20

With the help of God Ezekiel literally brought an army back from the grave. If God can ask something so big of Ezekiel and Ezekiel act in complete trust of God than surely we can do the same. Surely, we can do something so small as to love and forgive others. Christ calls us to love and forgive. We as humans find this so incredibly difficult to accomplish. We fail to look past human mistakes yet we all make them. It’s a part of how we are wired. In our human eyes, some mistakes are bigger than others however, in God’s eyes, they are all equal. A mistake is a mistake and a sin is a sin; it is all the same to Him.

We hear all of the testimonies of the struggles some Christians have faced in their lives. Liars, cheaters, addicts, judgers of men, and so many more heart breaking testimonies. God changed their hearts and looking at them now you would never imagine the life paths they have been down but just as importantly you can’t fathom the things that the people who love them went through also. God asked those people to do big things and they had faith and took on the challenge. As Christians we have to take off our colored glasses, soften our hearts, and love those around us. He is asking us to have faith that through him we can do big things, just like Ezekiel. God is asking us to call out to dry bones.

Washed White as Snow

Nowhere in the bible did God say that it would be easy. Following God’s will for your life, not easy. Each step in God’s direction is another target Satan puts on your back. Living for God when everyone else wants to live of the world, not easy. Put downs can flood your way when you are trying to live for Christ because the things of this world are “so satisfying”. Having a Christ like heart, not easy. That heart that forgives and loves others so much is sure to be broken. No following God is far from easy, that is why many simply do not do it or only do it half way. As we recollect on the stories from the bible it is easy to see that having faith isn’t easy. God promises big things and if we believe in the world than it is hard to imagine seeing those things He has promised come to fruition. God promised Sarai a child well into her old age. It would have been so easy for her to laugh at God and believe it not possible from her earthly perspective.

Believing God would follow through on his promise to Sarai, not easy, however, he did just that. He followed through on his promise even after Sarai disobeyed and tried to take matters into her own hands as she handed over her maidservant to have a child with her own husband. She tried to speed God’s process along yet, she only brought more pain and suffering to herself and lengthened the process. Even so, God still blessed Sarai with a child, just as he promised. This brings me to my second point: if we truly have a heart for Christ, than we are not big enough to mess up God’s plans for us. We make take a few wrong turns here and there but God can always bring us back to His path if our heart is willing to let him.

“for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.” Romans 3:23-24

As humans we are destined to sin and fall short of the glory of God but our God is a big God and through grace alone he can restore us. If you have been faced with trials, have made a wrong turn, or have made mistakes remember that God forgives.

“Come now, let us settle the matter,” says the LORD. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool. Isaiah 1:18

He loves all his children equally no matter their wrong doings. Just like the prodigal son He wants His children to return home. Remember, you can always turn back to Christ and make your way pure again!

 “‘My son,’ the father said, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’”  Luke 15:31-32