The Outcome Is In His Hands, Evans Olang

Ezekiel 37:1-14, “And He said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?”

It’s easier for me to talk to someone about hope, peace and faith. It’s easier to encourage someone who is going through hard times and even see them coming out of it but when it comes to me facing the same things, I find it hard to encourage myself.

Talking about prophet Ezekiel, he preached a message of hope to the exiles in Babylon yet the people he spoke to did not see things the way he spoke them. Ezekiel 37 is a very familiar passage about the valley of the dry bones. A place anyone would want to avoid. No one wants to go to the valley or live in the valley. People would rather live in a plain land or more so live up the hill. Celebrities love to build houses up the hill, a place where everyone can see their property. God in this case brings Ezekiel to the valley and not just any valley but a valley full of dry bones. Valley often times is associated with death, Psalm 23:4, “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death…”, a place of no hope, a dry place, a creepy place, in simple, a place with no life. I will submit that greater miracles happen in the valley. I tend to see more of God’s greatness through my times in the valley. Not that I want to be in the valley but I appreciate the times that I have been in the valley, it was a place of preparation for me. I did not like it, but it was vital. The Spirit of the Lord led Ezekiel in the valley, caused him to pass by all the bones, saw how they were so many and very dry. Look around you and see so many dry bones, dry marriages, dry community, dry churches, dry relationships, dry city, dry life. Very discouraging when you see all these and can do nothing about them.

Ezekiel 37:3, “And He said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?…” what would you say if you were asked the same question. Can this marriage survive, relationship, life, the lost, backsliders you name it, can they be restored? It puzzles me when I face myself with these questions. We have prayer requests that come in, people who need healing, people who need their jobs restored and I ask myself the question, can it be done? how about you, can you see a desire that has been dead for many weeks, months, years being restored?

Ezekiel 37:3, “…so I answered, “O Lord God, You know”. What a wise answer, if he said they could live and God did not do anything, Ezekiel would have been a liar; and if he said they could not live and God made them live, he would have still been a liar. What I’m I saying?, the outcome of a situation depends on what He does. I don’t know whether people will be healed, He knows and so is a marriage, job and all things that you have given up hope on. Could it be the answer God was looking for? probably. God knows what dilemma you and I are in and the answer of it lies in His hands. This is what I call “HE CAN”, whether He is going to do it or not is not an issue, the issue is “CAN HE?” ,can I trust His hands to know what to do? There are people who come to God to ask for something but don’t believe HE CAN do it, they are just giving it a try to see if He has the ability to make it happen.

If God is going to do it, He is going to have to use something to make it happen. Martha and Mary sent a message to Jesus to come and heal their brother who was sick, Jesus did not show up until Lazarus was four days dead . They understood that the outcome of the situation lied in the hands of Jesus, John 11:22, “But even now I know that whatever You ask of God, God will give You“. Jesus called Lazarus out of the tomb, God spoke through Ezekiel. Ezekiel 37:4,” Again He said to me, “Prophesy to these bones, and say to them, O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord! vs. 5, Thus says the Lord God to these bones: “surely I will cause breath to enter into you, and you shall live“. What would you do if you were told to speak life into what you can’t see life in? This prophet who said God knows is asked to prophesy life into these bones. Mark this, IT’S THE WORD OF GOD AGAINST THE CURRENT SITUATION. “Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God” and this is what He is basing his faith in, what God had spoken. It did not matter what had happened and how he could not see them come back to life, the instruction was simple, prophesy in My name.

You can try and make some sense out of your situation and not see it work out, leave it in the hands of God and when God gives you a word, speak life into it. Remember it is His word and not yours. If it backfires, shift the blame on Him but I heard Him say, “My word shall not return void…” “I am not a man that I should lie…” I see so many dry bones around me, the life of those dry bones are in His hands, all I can do is prophesy (proclaim) according to His word, do the same. Blessings Evans