When you walk through a cattle ranch, dry bones are common—most farmers leave dead cows for the buzzards. Soon bones bleached white are the only thing left.
If you happened across the dried-up, crumbling bones of an elderly bovine, would you command those bones to live? Imagine making such a request: the bones are not even all in one place. By the time they are dried out, the bones have been moved, scattered by critters and weather—you may never find them all. You’ll see a hip bone here, a femur there, a string of ribs, a jointed spine in two or three pieces. Somewhere there’s a skull….
Yet God took Ezekiel to a valley filled with bones and told the prophet to speak to the bones and COMMAND them to live. Then God told him to speak to the breath of life. Ezekiel did both—and a VAST ARMY stood before him.
Could we do the same if we had enough faith? Jesus said, “if you have the faith of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain ‘be moved’ and it will move” Matthew 17:20. So why have I never restored dry bones to life (or literally moved a mountain)?
Because of Romans 10:17:
“Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.”
You don’t muster up faith from inside, as though it were self-discipline or persistence. FAITH COMES BY HEARING. Faith comes when you hear God speak.
Ezekiel had the faith to command millions of bones to come to life because Ezekiel heard from God first. The same is true for us: when God speaks to us, He gives us the faith to obey.
FIRST, God tells you what to do, THEN He gives you the faith to make it happen.
Rather than looking inside yourself for faith, LOOK TO GOD. Seek Him, talk to Him, read His word, and tell Him your need. When you are ready, He will speak, giving you direction and the faith to obey Him.
God, teach us to SEEK YOU and LISTEN.
ΑΩ
Household Words: 