Above and beyond...

     I was recently reminded of a song by Elevation Worship entitled, “Graves into Gardens.” One line in the song in particular stirred something in me and I felt prompted to write about it - “You turn bones into armies.” 
    This comes from the book of Ezekiel 37:1-10. Although I am familiar with this story, I did further research to better understand what was happening in these verses. The prophet is taken by the Spirit of God to a valley filled with dry bones. One of the observations he makes is that, “they were very many…they were very dry”(v.2).  That reveals how overwhelming and how hopeless things were for the nation of Israel at that time. On top of that the bones were in an open valley. It tells us that these people had not received a proper burial and in ancient Israel and the ancient Near East, a corpse that had not been properly buried and left exposed, was considered a disgrace. 
    This reminds me that there are times when we go through situations that not only leave us feeling overwhelmed and hopeless but covered in shame. We wonder what others might be thinking or saying. We may even feel as if our very character, our very testimony is under question. It can be discouraging and we may lose our confidence and hope of ever being restored. 
    It is interesting that the Lord asks the prophet in the following verse, “Can these bones live?” Immediately, the prophet wisely turns the answer to the question right back to God “O Lord God, Thou knowest.” This was beyond anything the prophet could comprehend or figure out. After all, it wasn’t a valley containing one or two sets of bones, it was a valley filled with dry bones. And, chances are, the bones were in a confused mess. This was not a valley of skeletons, but a valley of disconnected bones, scattered all over thus making it difficult to connect which bone belonged to which person. It was truly a confused mess and in our own lives sometimes, we may go through situations that feel so messed up, we really feel like there is no hope. Yet, as I said, the prophet did a wise thing - he gave the solution to the problem back to God. He knew he could in no way solve it. It was too big and too messed up for him to handle so God was his only hope!
    I don’t even think God expected him to have the answer. Maybe He wanted to see what he would do. Similarly, God doesn’t expect us to have the answer. He just wants us to give that messed up, hopeless situation to Him. Too many times, however, we try to solve it on our own and we mess it up even more … if that were possible! 
    There is nothing too hard for our God. Jeremiah, the prophet faced a similarly hopeless situation. Judah was about to be taken captive by their enemies yet, God instructs Jeremiah to buy a field from his nephew (Jeremiah 32:6-14). That made no sense! They were about to lose their homeland yet God tells him to buy a field there. God just wanted to prove that He would restore all that they were about to lose. He would do it! “Behold, I will gather them out of all countries, whither I have driven them in mine anger, and in my fury, and in great wrath; and I will bring them again unto this place, and I will cause them to dwell safely” (v. 37).
    At some point in time, we may go through situations that may seem hopeless and overwhelming. The good news is that God doesn’t expect us to handle it on our own. Instead, He wants us to choose to give it to Him and trust His way of working it out. After all, when it’s too much for us to handle, it’s never too much for our God. That’s why He is God and we are not!
    If you have not accepted Jesus Christ into your life as your personal Lord and Saviour, I encourage you to do so now. God is in the business of fixing what is messed up and hopeless. When we learn to lean on Him and trust Him, He will do above and beyond what we are able to do.

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