Devotional: Speaking to the Dead

Ezekiel 37:3 - God said to me, "Son of man, can these bones live?"  And I answered, "O Lord God, You know."

How often in life do you feel dead?  If you're like me, you've had some dead zones in your life where, like your cell phone, you couldn't get any services, you felt no meaningful connection, and you likely felt useless.
This dead feeling can result from any number of troubling situations and circumstances:

• Dead finances when you lack a job or a job sufficient to your needs
• Dead confidence when you've failed at something or been told that you're not _______ enough
• Dead hope when too many things have failed to come through for you
• Dead trust when people you cared about and trusted have hurt or let you down
• Dead desire when your efforts never seem to payoff
• Dead spirit when the Divine feels far from you
• Dead emotions when your heart is too tired to try or it's emoting out of control
• Dead mind when it's clouded and cluttered with chaotic thoughts, too much stuff, and unproductive ponderings
• Dead body when you feel unhealthy, achy, exhausted, and unable to really function

I could go on, but you know your situation and the aches that you feel for a part of yourself basically being inactive. 

One of the things that I find fascinating about the Ezekiel text is that God brings Ezekiel into the valley.  While God possessed the ability to bring the army to life, God brings in Ezekiel to speak.  While in that context, it was Ezekiel's job to hear from God and speak to the people, I think there's an important, relevant lesson here: sometimes it takes God bringing us into the midst of Death Valley to get us to both listen and speak.  It's there that we can see the situation, we can hear what God knows, and we can be empowered to speak into our lives.  

While there are some legit obstacles and issues in life, I feel that at least part of the issue is a problem of belief, especially in ourselves and the power we possess.  There is so much we could accomplish if we believed enough to give ourselves fully in pursuit of our goals and desires.  In fact, I think that laziness in a lot of ways is really about fear, especially of failure but also of success.  So rather than try, we chill in easy, comfortable spaces...

So let's take the time today to come face-to-face with our bones, seeking Divine guidance, and begin to speak.  This speaking can be to ourselves in an affirming way, to our situation that it will not win, to others to gain assistance/support, or even speech through the necessary actions to grow and move forward.  And you might be surprised by what comes from within.  In the story, Ezekiel didn't have to tell the bones how to come together - they automatically knew and did it.  You know more than you think - trust yourself.

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people will not feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It is not just in some of us; it is in everyone and as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give others permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others. -Marianne Williamson