Dry Bones and Dark Valleys

Friends, today we are discussing dry bones and dark valleys.

Let’s begin with Ezekiel 37:1-5, "The hand of the Lord was upon me, and he brought me out in the Spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of the valley; it was full of bones. And he led me around among them, and behold, there were very many on the surface of the valley, and behold, they were very dry. And he said to me, 'Son of man, can these bones live?' And I answered, 'O Lord God, you know.' Then he said to me, 'Prophesy over these bones, and say to them, O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. Thus says the Lord God to these bones: Behold, I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live'".

In Christianity, the vision of dry bones in Ezekiel symbolizes God's power to revive and restore what seems dead or hopeless. In particular, the scripture of dry bones is a symbolic representation of the restoration of Israel at that biblical time, and today it represents individual spiritual renewal for believers. The dry bones, which initially were a scene of despair, are brought to life by God's breath, signifying hope, resurrection, and the promise of new life through faith. 

Sometimes, God sends us into spaces of dead, dry, and dark places. But our mandate, as His Children, is to be light and to speak life into the dead, dry, defeated, and forgotten areas in life. Because without God’s Word, there is no spiritual resurrection. 

We are to speak encouragement, hope, and faith into seemingly hopeless situations or into the lives of people who feel spiritually dead or broken. It's all about actively using words to bring about healing, restoration, and new beginnings when faced with despair or stagnation. And as we can see in the Bible, God has provided a scripture of hope and encouragement for every valley and dry season that we may experience in this life.

And along with encouraging words, God has given us the grace to help ourselves and to help others. My friends, the gifts, talents, and abilities that our Father has placed inside of us are not for our benefit and self-exaltation, but the gifts and talents that are buried inside of each one of us are to be used to glorify God and help others. Through our words and actions, God uses our gifts to build up the old and breathe life into the worn-down things. 

We should boldly speak life over spiritually dry areas because we believe it to be true, not because we are hoping it will come true.