All Hope Is Not Gone

Greetings to all, on this "hump" day Wednesday, let us thank God for life, health, and strength. Let us keep the vision of His promise of new life both physically and spiritually. Amen

When we find ourselves in the midst of despair and down in the valley, we long to be restored or revived to a place of abundant life and hope.

We must realize that God is only a breath away; He has the power to restore our life and bring back to life the situations no matter how dry they are, or even if we have given them up for dead.

Ezekiel 37:11-14 (NCV)

11 Then he said to me, "Human, these bones are like all the people of Israel. They say,' Our bones are dried up, and our hope has gone. We are destroyed.'

12 So, prophesy and say to them,' This is what the Lord GOD says: My people, I will open your graves and cause you to come up out of your graves. Then I will bring you into the land of Israel.

13 My people, you will know that I am the LORD when I open your graves and cause you to come up from them.

14 And I will put my Spirit inside you, and you will come to life. Then I will put you in your own land. And you will know that I, the LORD, have spoken and done it, says the LORD.' "

It's natural for us to want to know what's happening in our lives. But, just like the dry bones in the valley responded to God's message in Ezekiel's vision, we too must respond to the message of God.

No matter what seems dead in our lives, all hope is not gone. Knowing that we are never alone and that God is always with us, whether on the mountain top or down in the valley, should give us a sense of security.

Lesson: Our hope is lost when we lose our connection with God. The dry bones represented the people's spiritually dead condition. Let us not lose our connection/relationship with God and become spiritually dead people.

Ezekiel felt he was speaking to the dead as he preached to the exiles because they rarely responded to his message.

But these bones responded! And just as God brought life to the dry bones, He will bring life again when we feel that all hope is gone.