Ezekiel's vision

Today was ‘Spiritual Day’ day with the cadets. I know it’s a silly name because every day should be spiritual but the point is to set aside one day a month which is devoted to worship and spiritual formation. This was my day to be with them. I had only one word that I knew I wanted to focus on – holiness. But, I didn’t have any idea where to go with it. I thought maybe I would talk about living a life of holiness. I wasn’t getting any inspiration for a particular scripture passage. Finally I opened Soul Shaping which we had used at the Retreat. There was a little yellow post-it which said ‘Later Spiritual Day’. Of course, I had originally planned that I would use this book every time I had an opportunity for spiritual formation with the cadets. So, I started to read and as usual, this was exactly what I needed personally. There was the story of Ezekiel and the dry bones (Ezek. 37:1-14). Ezekiel sees a valley of very dry, very dead bones. First God asks Ezekiel "will these bones live." That’s a weird question for God to ask Ezekiel and Ezekiel gives the only logical answer, “Only the Lord knows.” God tells him to prophesy to these bones. A bit crazy but Ezekiel takes a risk and does it because he knows the God who is asking. The bones begin to take form as humans, with flesh and bones coming together. But, there is no breath in them. Ezekiel must have been disappointed. Why would God allow the miracle to only go so far? Why didn’t the bones come to life when Ezekiel spoke? Because, it was not in Ezekiel’s power to give life. Only when he prayed for the breath of life to come and breathe into the bones did they come alive. He had to realize that God is the only one with that kind of power. He probably experienced disappointment. We can do some things on our own, with our own words. And they may even seem like miraculous things. But, they cannot bring life and we will often experience disappointment. Only when and as the Holy Spirit breathes through us, can there be life. There’s so much more to these few verses. Here’s how Doug Rumford explained our spiritual process as seen in Ezekiel’s vision:

Recognition of dryness apart from God
Let God stir a new dream
Risk stepping out before you know the whole dream
Be ready for disappointment (corpses) – God is in charge
Pray boldly for the Holy Spirit to breathe life into what you do
Expect God to bring the resources together to accomplish things for His Glory

Where am I in this process? I think I’m all over the place! God is stirring something new in me. But, also this whole adventure is a risk and I can’t begin to know the whole dream. I’m learning (over and over again) that I can’t do anything in my strength, without the Holy Spirit’s breath. But, when He breathes I see His glory at work in amazing ways. I’m so glad I’m on this journey and I can assure you, it is never boring!