Pastor Wayne Cordeiro
August 10, 2008 - W0832

Have you ever had a bone fractured or dislocated a joint? As for me, I had my shoulder dislocated twice and it is painful. It’s as if I was giving birth to triplets at the same time! And so what do we do when we’ve broken a bone? More than likely, we’ll need to put the bone back in its place. By doing so, the bone can heal properly.

Metaphorically speaking, Israel had many bones out of place. Although it caused pain in their lives, they refused to correct it by putting their lives back in place. Instead, they tried to distract themselves, grumbled or got angry about it. And just like Israel, we do the same today. Sometimes, we take pills for pain when maybe all we need to do is put our lives back into place.

Someone once said the obscure we eventually see, and the obvious we’re blinded to. This is true in life. Often, it will be the simple things that will throw us off. And before you know it, a bone in life gets out of place. By then we’ll have a disjointed marriage or a fractured relationship.   

Today, Ezekiel addresses us as he did back then. As it were, God takes him into a valley of dry bones. Bones that were disjointed, disarrayed and scattered. God also shows Israel what use to be set in place in their lives has become disarrayed. 

Although we may say Israel did this and that. However, the old testament is a mirror more than it is a history. What? Yes, it’s about us as well. And God will keep those stories in the Bible because we have the same tendencies to do the same as well.

As for Ezekiel, God had him move from the problem to the resolution. These are gems of wisdom of moving from problem to resolution. It’s about time we stop grumbling about our broken bones and put them back in place. So how do we rectify problems of dislocated marriages, broken relationships with employees, churches, finances and fractured business?  There are three steps.

But first we’ll need to be aware of the symptoms because they are important just as well. You see, every week every one of us will go through a minor, medium or major problem every week. Nonetheless, these symptoms are for the problem side of the equation. And when you become aware of them in your life, move from the problem side of the equation to the resolution side of the equation.

Here are the symptoms of being on the problem side of the equation.

1)      Finding your self doing the Blame game.

2)      Having Anger.

3)      Having Fear of things falling apart.

4)      Becoming Defensive.

5)      And, focusing on the Past.

After you’ve become aware of these symptoms, make an effort to move to the resolution side of the equation. When you do, here is what you’ll find.

1)      Courage to Repentance.  And, there will not be anger because there is hope again.

2)      You won’t see fear, but Faith.

3)      Instead of defensiveness, you’ll find Forgiveness.

4)      And instead of focusing of the past, you’ll be focusing on the Future.

Only then will you be able to see a preferred future. Remember, you’ll need to move from the problem side to the resolution side of the equation. Here is what the scripture tells us.

“Behold, they say, “Our bones are dried up and our hope has perished. We are completely cut off.’ Therefore prophesy and say to them. “Thus says the Lord GOD…”I will put My Spirit within you and you will come to life’”” (Ezek. 37:11-12, 14). If you ask why would God use such a metaphor with adventure and intrigue? And what is the lesson in this?

Well, the way you find lessons out of the Bible is to re-trace back and see what God is saying. Listen, the greatest gems of the Bible will not be found easily just laying on the surface. You’ll need to mine them as a miner digs for diamonds. Be willing to swing the pike and dig deeper into the Word of God. We simply cannot afford not to.

So how do we resolve things when bones are out of place? Here are three steps to move from the problem side to the resolution side of the equation. Remember, it is only when we cross the center point, that faith, innovation and insight begins to flow. And it gives hope for the future rather than beleaguered about the past. The first is,

1.      SEEING IS BELIEVING.

“He said to me, ‘Son of man, can these bones live?’ And I answered, ‘O Lord God, only You know’” (Ezek. 37:3).  When something is wrong in your life, marriage, a financial setback or a tax problem God will ask you, can you make it through this okay? In other words, even if you’re in a valley of dried bones do you think there is hope?

“When He entered the house, the blind men came up to Him, and Jesus said to them, ‘Do you believe that I am able to do this?’ They said to Him, ‘Yes, Lord’” (Matt. 9:28). Right after this, a miracle happened. Listen, it’s as if God is saying can you see a preferred future? Because if you can’t see hope, you won’t go for it. And, you won’t move or have the energy to move forward. Therefore, it is important to see a preferred future.

And this is why seeing is believing. In other words, if you don’t see your family being close, it won’t. Because it won’t happen by accident. Furthermore, if you can’t see your life used by God it won’t come to pass. This is what scripture tells us, “For as he thinks within himself, so is he” (Prov. 23:7).

In fact, scripture also tells us, “The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are clear, your whole body will be full of light. But if you’re eyes are dark, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great shall that darkness be!” (Mat. 6:22-23). Did you know that we don’t see with our eyes but with our brain? That’s because our optical lobe is in our brain. Our eyes are only lenses that transmit images to our optical lobe. And, from there it is seasoned with our definition or faith. Aha!

Therefore, this tells us, it’s not the situation, but the way we see it. For example, when an image comes to your mind about a broken family relationship, you’ll just grumble about the circumstances. You’ll also complain and say that person will never get it right. Well, what happened here is you saw a situation and then you defined it as impossible. In addition, you’ve painted it dark and bleak. Did you know two people can see the same event and one will paint a dark picture of it and the other can paint it bright? Again, it’s not the situation it’s the way you see it. 

Therefore, renew the spirit of our minds in order to see correctly. If you’re on the problem side of the equation, you won’t think the problem will be solved. However, as soon as you move over to the resolution side all of a sudden you’re opening your heart to faith, wisdom, to insight, to God’s advice and counsel, to His help. It is by faith that says our Father can do anything with dried bones!

The second step to putting back disjointed lives is to…

2.      SET NON-NEGOTIABLE PRIORITIES.

“I spoke these words, just as He told me. Suddenly as I spoke, there was a rattling noise all across the valley. The bones of each body came together and attached themselves as they had been before” (Ezek. 37:7). This tells us things came together!

The sooner we say enough with blaming and grumbling, the sooner we’ll have an attitude of solving problem. Than all of a sudden faith starts surging into you and you realize God is more than able to do it. It is at this point where the bones get put back in their place.

Thus, get priorities back in order. The reason life got disjointed in the first place is because priorities slipped out somewhere. Listen, our bodies were designed to heal. It’s a normal course of life. But it will not heal if things are out of whacked. For example, dislocated joints will not heal properly if you just use a sling. Sure blood may flow, but you’ll be limping the rest of your life.  And why limp, when you have a chance to walk straight by setting it correctly? And yes, sure it’s going to hurt but it will be so much better in the long run. Until then, healing will be funny. Sometimes, the reason things went out of order were because our priorities. Here they are in order.

1) Me

2) Me

3) Me

And God says no, these are not our priorities. All in all, it is not what I think but what God thinks. And, not what I say, but what He says. Hence, not what I feel, but what God feels.

Even though it seems painful, get the bones back into place. In other words, get your priorities back in the right order.

1)      God

2)      Spouse

3)      Family

4)      Career or vocation

Remember your career or vocation is not an end in itself. Rather, it is a means to doing well in priority 1-3. Most certainly, in the end it wouldn’t matter if you made another deal or not at work. But more importantly, what’s happening to your legacy.

Here is a childhood song that explains it well. “The ankle bone connected to the shin bone. The shin bone connected to the knee bone. The knee bone connected to the thigh bone. And all goes round and round”. And this is true. Yet, a lot of times things are not in order because the foot bone is connected to the mouth bone. And the stiff bone is connected to the neck bone. And the butt bone is connected to the head bone. Oops! This is church, sorry!

Thus, get the Biblical priorities in place first. And let this be non negotiable. Here is what the Bible tells us. “To him who orders his way aright, I shall show the salvation of God” (Ps. 50:23). In other words, get your priorities right because God can heal.   

Think of it this way, what would delight God’s heart? Wouldn’t it be to resolve our problems in a way that honors God? Of course! This would build biblical character and we would gain wisdom as well.

Although we may have problems with someone in our family, most times our intentions and desires are the same. Basically, we’re just seeing it from different angles. Therefore for fathers, we’ll need to speak the promises of God to our family. God promises healing, direction and rewards, so let’s work out our problems.

Remember, the first step to putting broken bones back together or moving from problem side to resolving is, seeing is believing. The second is to set non-negotiable priorities. The third and final step is…

3.      SPEAK GOD’S PROMISES INTO REALITY.

“He said to me, ‘Prophesy over these bones and say to them, “O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord.”’ Thus says the Lord…’I will cause breath to enter you that you may come to life’” (Ezek. 37:3-5). Listen, you can have things in order and be attending church yet not have life in your family. It is time for someone to prophesy, and speak the promises of God.

·        SOMEONE HAS TO PROPHESY!

“And I looked, and behold, sinews were on them, and flesh grew and skin covered them; but there was no breath in them. Then He said to me, ‘prophesy to the breath, prophesy, son of man’…So I prophesied as He commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they came to life and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army” (Ezek. 37:8-10).

Men, it’s time we prophesized to our families, saying its God’s will to do good. It is God’s will that we get things right. Let’s commit ourselves to integrity and follow through faithfully. Fathers, we are the ones that set the example. Remember, you can tell people what you know, but ultimately you’ll reproduce what you are. 

On the contrary, this has nothing to do with demeaning a family member with a pontificating remark. Instead, listen to what the scriptures say. “But one who prophesies speaks to men for edification and exhortation and consolation”. (1Cor. 14:3). This tells us to,

1)      Edify – use words or speak to build your family members up.  

2)      Exhort – stir their faith into what your family members are seeing, instead of fear. Remember, we see with our minds, our eyes are the lenses which we see through.

3)      Console – comfort and encourage your family members.

When we edify, exhort and console others, we move from the problem side of the equation to the resolution. After this, faith starts. Therefore, start by making sure your bones or priorities get put back in order. And, that they are non-negotiable. This should be something we should live and die by. By doing so, you’ll breathe into your family with the promises of God or prophesy of God. And when you find yourself in a valley of dry bones and God asks, can these dry bones live? We can confidently answer yes!

In conclusion, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and void, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering just above the surface of the waters. And God spoke and said, “Let there be light”, and there was light” (Gen. 1:1-3).

This tells us the earth was formless and void. But the Spirit of God was hovering just above the water. This is what God is telling us; when you think your life is formless and void. And you think it’s the darkness of night and bones are out of joint, the Spirit of God is very close to the surface of the waters. Yes, even if it’s storming. In essence, what the Holy Spirit is waiting for is God to speak and say let there be light. And then in an instant, everything came to life!  

God unpacks this through out the Bible, in order that we may become a people who will know how to solve and rectify problems. For we will come across problems all the time, it’s just who we are. Remember God came to resolve problems because man is filled with problems due to sin. So prophesy!

DISCUSSION SUGGESTIONS

1.      Is there an area in your life where you need to cross over from the problem to the resolution side? What do you need to do to cross over (repentance, forgiveness etc.)?  

2.      What are your current priorities? What is the Holy Spirit telling you about them?

3.      Have you been speaking the promises of God to your spouse and children? Find scriptures to speak into reality this week to your family.

4.      What impacted you most today and how will you apply them in order for God to make us live?