Ezekiel 37:7 “So I prophesied as I was commanded; and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold, a rattling; and the bones came together, bone to its bone.” Today's episode talks about how we are all called to help God with His plan. It asks the question, what would the world be like if we were all helping God daily? It also give a great example of a girl who listened to the what God asked her to do and what happened because of her obedience. Music:"Adding the Sun" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
God, How Can I Help You Today?
Ezekiel 37:7 “So I prophesied as I was commanded; and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold, a rattling; and the bones came together, bone to its bone.”
I liked this verse for many reasons. First I love that is shows Ezekiel’s obedience to God. It wasn’t as if God was asking him to do something easy. God was asking Him to prophesy of dead bones and make them living again. Let me read you the whole section.
Ezekiel 37:1-6 says, “The hand of the Lord was upon me, and he brought me out by the Spirit of the Lord, and set me down in the midst of the valley; it was full of bones. And he led me round among them; and behold, there were very many upon the valley; and lo, they were very dry. And he said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” And I answered, “O Lord God, thou knowest.” 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: Behold, I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live. And I will lay sinews upon you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live; and you shall know that I am the Lord.”
Take a minute and put yourself in Ezekiel’s shoes. God asked him to speak words over the dry bones and they will come to life. I can imagine that was a little hard to believe. I will admit I don’t know a lot about Ezekiel off the top of my head. I can’t list any incredible things that happened before this one and yet I am sure there were many. I mean this is chapter 37, so there is a lot that has happened with Ezekiel before God asked him to prophesy over dry bones and make them live again. And yet, I still think it is remarkable that God told him to do it and he did it. I wonder what he was thinking? I wonder if he knew it would work? I wonder if he had even a moment of self doubt? I wonder what that moment felt like when he prophesied as he was commanded and it actually worked. Do you know what I mean? I wonder what he was thinking as these dry bones all around him began to come to life. It must have been incredible.
Another reason I love this passage is because it demonstrates to us that God likes to use us to do His work. He likes to allow us to take part in his plan and He gives us power to do so. Do you think God needed Ezekiel to raise those bones? Nope, he could have easily done it himself. He allowed him to do it and that is incredible. Did you know God is wanting to use you for incredible things too? He is, He really is. I know some of you, many of you probably just counted yourself out when you heard that statement. I bet many of you said, he doesn’t want to use me, I am too old, too shy, too young, too buys, too something. Or maybe you thought you were not holy enough, not outgoing enough, not bold enough, not enough in some way. That is a lie the enemy is telling you. Don’t let the enemy lie to you about your calling.
God is so good and He calls us right where we are at. I am not saying God is calling each and every one of us to go out and bring his love to every nation. Although that may be your calling. He does want to use each and every one of us to be a part of His plan. He is talking to each and every one of us every single day, we just aren’t listening to Him. What if we started to listen? What if we started to ask God what He wants us to do? What if we asked God every morning, “God, what can I do for you today?” How do you think your life would change if you began each day like this? Imagine how much faster we could change the world if we were all working with God. Imagine how many more lives would be touched if we all just did our little part in spreading the word of God and spreading the love of God.
God is not going to call each one of us to raise bones from the dead. He is calling some people to do this. There are people living right now, all around the world that are raising people from the dead. However, these people have asked God for that gift and have worked hard to cultivate that gift. They were faithful with the small gifts God gave and they were obedient in the small things and God gave them more and more responsibility as He noticed they were faithful and obedient. He did not start out asking them to raise the dead and He won’t start out with that for you either.
Sometimes we are afraid to ask God what He wants us to do, or what we can do for Him because we don’t know what He will ask. What if He asks us something we can’t do? What if He asks us to do something too hard for us or something that will make us too uncomfortable? These are good questions. You don’t have to feel bad about asking them because you want to make sure you aren’t going to let God down. He knows this. The thing to remember is God knows you better than you know you. He will ask you to do things that have you step outside your comfort zone, and this is so you can grow. It is also so you can show your obedience. However, if He asks you to do something and you couldn’t because you were nervous, or you just couldn’t bring yourself to do it. That’s ok, just try again next time. I can tell this is the Holy Spirit talking through me today because I needed to hear that too. God is not going to give you a task that is so important His whole plan would be messed up if you didn’t do. God knows you, he knows what you can and can’t do and He loves you, even when you can’t do something you feel He is calling you to do.
In prayer group we have a time where we are all silent and we ask God to speak to us. Then we all listen and see if He wants to give us a word to share. Over the years we have found that if he gives someone a word and yet they aren’t sure if they should share it for one reason or another, He will move on and give that word to someone else. I think this is reassuring because it takes the pressure off us and yet I don’t think we should use that as an excuse to not step forward when we think God might be asking us to do something. If He is asking He will give us the courage and if He really wants us to do it, He will keep asking so much that we can’t say no. I have shared this story before, but was reminded of it this weekend and then felt like I should share it again.
This girl went to church camp and the pastor told this story: his daughter was driving home one day and she felt that God was telling her to do a headstand by the pop machine at a gas station. Of course she didn't want to because it was just so random and she would feel way too uncomfortable to do that. She kept pushing it away and God kept pursuing her. Finally she gave in and drove to the gas station. She walked in and there was only one guy there who is working. She smiled, waved awkwardly and walked over to the pop machine. She looked at him again and he was staring, so she did a headstand and began to walk out. As she was reaching for the handle the man stopped her and asked, "Why did you do that?" And she said, "For some reason God told me to do a handstand by the pop machine." The man stared at her for a little bit he then grabbed a gun from under the counter and set it on top. He said, "Today after work, I was planning on killing myself. I had nowhere else to turn so I turned to God, any God. And I prayed, "If you are real and want me alive send a girl to do a handstand by the pop machine.”
I get all choked up anytime I recall a miracle as I am just so moved by God’s love for us. This girl heard God asking her to do something and she didn’t want to. She felt it was too crazy, she was too uncomfortable, and didn’t want to. Yet God kept pursuing her. I love the way that is worded. God was pursuing her. He wasn’t pressuring her, He wasn’t commanding her. He was pursuing her. He wanted her to be a part of His plan. How amazing do you think she felt after finding out the incredible thing God used her for? I am sure it was rewarding for her to be a part of His plan to save the man working their that night. She had no idea why she was supposed to do the handstand, and yet she did it anyway.
There will be many times when God is calling us to do something and we don’t know why. Sometimes we are lucky and just after we do it we can see the reason why we were supposed to do it, and other times, we may never know why. I remember reading in a book or hearing a story about this preacher who was away on business. Three of his coworkers at the church had this strong feeling that God was sending them over to the preacher’s house at 3 in the morning to intercede for his wife and children. They drove over and just prayed outside the house for a few hours. They are still not sure why they were sent there, but they are sure they prevented some sort of attack from the enemy.
I am not sure why God doesn’t share the why with us. I feel like it would be much easier to gather the courage to do a random handstand if we knew it would save someone’s life. Maybe in the not knowing God is helping to build our trust and our faith as well. I am not sure. I do know God wants to use you, just as He wants to use me. I know He wants to speak to you, He just needs you to listen. What if right after you listen to this you take a minute and ask God what He would like to do for you today and then try to do it. Don’t worry, you won’t be perfect at hearing God’s word, none of us are. Don’t worry, you might not always be able to do what you feel He is asking you to do, it’s ok, He doesn’t hold it against you and He will make sure His will is done even if we can’t do it. God is not going to put a lot of pressure on us to be a part of His plan. It is more of an honor and one that He offers freely to all of us. How can you help God today?
Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless all those listening to this episode today. Lord, we love you so much and we can’t believe you invite us in to help with your plan. We thank you and we want to say yes Lord. Help us to say yes. Help give us the courage and the boldness to do as you ask. Help us to give you quiet time each day to listen to what you have to say. Help us to ask you daily how we can help you. You are so amazing Lord and we are so grateful you love us so much!! We ask all of this in accordance with your will and in Jesus’ holy name, Amen!
Thank you so much for joining me on this journey to walk boldly with Jesus. I look forward to meeting you here again tomorrow. Have a blessed day!