Thursday, November 3, 2022

November 3, 2022

One evening when I was a teenager, I was watching the movie, “Friday the 13th,” with a friend and her family. When you watch a scary movie and it hits its climax, your pulse quickens, your respiration increases, and you feel your fight-or-flight response awaken. Once the villain is destroyed and the victim is safe, you can finally start to relax.

I thought I was at that part of the movie: Jason appeared dead, the heroine was in a rowboat and appeared safe … then all of a sudden, Jason jumps out of the water and lunges for the boat. At that same moment, my friend’s mom grabbed me from behind. I jumped up and started screaming like a maniac. I will never understand why some people love to be scared.

Last weekend during our Halloweekend service, we explored a scary story from the Bible. In it, God turned a bunch of dried up human bones into people. (Are you thinking about zombies?)

What is so amazing about this story is that God and Ezekiel are in a valley filled with human bones having a discussion (very creepy). Imagine yourself in Ezekiel’s place. Would you be freaked out? Would you be focusing on the bones or God? I don’t think I would have been able to concentrate on the conversation myself. Then God asked Ezekiel a crazy question.

Ezekiel 37:3a

Then he asked me, “Son of man, can these bones become living people again?”

I’d be freaked out, thinking is that possible? Can God really turn those bones into living, breathing people? Who knows how long I would have stood there, trying to figure out the answer. The Bible doesn’t give any indication about what Ezekiel was thinking or what emotions he was experiencing. It just tells us how he answered the question.

Ezekiel 37:3b

“O Sovereign Lord,” I replied, “you alone know the answer to that.”

Next, God told Ezekiel to speak prophetic messages to the bones and then to the winds, and Ezekiel obeyed.

Ezekiel 37:10

So I spoke the message he commanded me, and breath came into their bodies. They all came to life and stood up on their feet—a great army.

I am amazed that Ezekiel trusted God enough to immediately obey him. He didn’t question God. He didn’t run away screaming. As Pastor Ben said during his message, “He just stepped into the mess.” He stepped out of his comfort zone and trusted God. He didn’t understand what God was doing, he just obeyed him.

I want to be like Ezekiel. I want to trust God at all times, especially when life doesn’t make sense. I have a tendency to try to figure things out on my own, but I am learning to trust God, surrender my concerns and worries to him, and seek his will.

I’d like to share one of my favorite verses with you.

Proverbs 3:5-6

5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. 6 Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.

Questions:

Where do you need to trust God? How do you respond when God calls you to do something hard? What fear/hardship is preventing you from obeying God?

Next Steps:

Read Ezekiel 37:1-14 if you haven’t already. Think about how you would have acted if you were Ezekiel.

Join us next week as we begin our new series, AT THE MOVIES! Better yet, consider inviting someone to attend with you.

Prayer:

God, you are such an amazing and loving Father. Help me to trust you in all situations and not to depend on my own understanding. Help me seek your will in everything I do. Lord, I surrender all my concerns and worries to you. I know you have a perfect plan. I trust you, Lord! Amen.