Speak what God says...

          The devil comes to steal, kill and destroy. We know that. We see it in our lives sometimes more often than we care to count. But once our lives are hidden with Christ in God, and they are, there is always hope. 
        Recently, while reading my bible during my morning devotion, I reached the chapter in Ezekiel that speaks about the valley of dry bones. I was excited to read about it again even though I have heard this story preached enough times. I perused it this morning again and I noticed a few things. The Spirit of the Lord set Ezekiel down in the “middle” of the valley and it was “full” of bones. 
          How many times are we in situations where we feel “overwhelmed”? All around us there seems to be “dry bones”. Everything seems to speak of hopelessness and despair. We know what the Word of God says yet we can’t seem to find our way out of this valley of despair. We pray, we praise, we speak to others hoping to get a breakthrough but … nothing. Maybe that’s how the situation seemed to Ezekiel. He was placed after all in the “middle” of this valley, not on the outskirts of it where there would be an easy escape but in the MIDDLE of it. No matter where he turned there were dry bones and as he put it: “and indeed they were very dry” (v 2b). That sounds to me like not only was the life sucked out of them but that there was no chance of any life getting back into them! And that’s exactly how we feel sometimes when we face some hopeless situations – it sucks from us the desire to try, it sucks from us the will to keep believing for something better.
         And then the Spirit of the Lord asks the unbelievable question: “Son of man, can these bones live?” Now hold up! Any one of us might have answered: “Now seriously God, you really want me to answer that??!!” Anyone can see that this is hopeless!” And usually this may be the time when the devil steps in and starts whispering or even shouting in your ear: “Why waste your time and energy? The marriage is over, the relationship is done, you’ve lost your chance to make your dream a reality!” Any number of negative thoughts would usually bombard our minds at this point, trying to convince us of the obvious – Give up! Give in! It’s over! …  But God!!!!
         And then God gives Ezekiel a simple instruction. He says: “Prophesy to these bones…” (v 4) Now you’ve just spent most if not all of your time and energy speaking the obvious; saying what your natural eyes and your lack of faith have been seeing, not to mention what the devil has been prompting you to say. After all, you’re speaking the truth right? Wrong! You’ve been speaking fact NOT truth. The fact is what your natural eyes and senses experience, the truth is what God says about it! God knew the truth and He pushed Ezekiel to SPEAK the truth based on what He God had purposed NOT on what Ezekiel’s eyes were seeing! “So I prophesied as He commanded me…” (v 10) When Ezekiel obeyed God and spoke what God told him to speak the situation changed. 
       What is God telling you to speak over your situation today? Maybe you need to ask Him what He wants you to say instead of being prompted by what you are seeing, experiencing and yes, feeling. Yes, the situation is real but God still has the final say. So let God help you speak what He says and I’m sure you will see the difference!

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