“Thus says the Lord God to these bones: Listen! I will make breath enter you so that you may come to life. I will put sinews on you, make flesh grow over you, cover you with skin, and put breath into you so you may come to life. Then you shall know that I am the Lord. “

-Ezekiel 37:5-6

Friends, I don’t know about you, but my bones have been feeling pretty dry lately. My prayer life has felt dry. My creative thoughts have felt dry. My energy has felt dry. My relationships have felt dry. My diet and exercise have felt dry (as in eating unhealthy foods and an exercise regimen that is so sporadic that it really should not be called a regimen at all). Right now, it just seems as if all the pieces and parts that make up my life are all….just, well…..meh. Not nourished. Just hanging on by a thread. There is nothing extremely difficult going on in any area of my life at the moment, yet I just have a dryness and feeling that I cannot seem to shake.

Have you ever felt this way?

This feeling of dryness usually seems to come on slowly at first. Often, I find that one area of my life starts to feel a little off, and as long as the other pieces and parts that keep me afloat are still rolling at their normal pace, I am usually all good. The trouble begins, when that dryness from one area starts to trickle into another area within me. Once one dry bone rubs off on another dry bone, I usually find that the dryness quickly begins to consume almost every bone within me. I am then left wondering how I spiraled into this all consuming dryness so quickly.

Defeat

Once I get to the place where everything seems to be dry, I feel utterly defeated. Then I usually get frustrated with myself, which then tends to lead to getting frustrated with others. See what a viscous cycle this can turn into? And, this is exactly where I was at a few mornings ago. The dryness had been building up for days, and there I sat trying to enter into prayer so angry at myself for falling into the spiral trap. What made it worse, is not knowing how I even got to that point. When I don’t have an answer to why I am feeling a certain way, or what is causing me to feel so lifeless and dry, I fall into an even deeper valley of defeat.

Give it to God

Yes. I know. Take it to God. I know that is what I should do. I pray every day and take all sorts of things to God. It is a daily practice for me. This is the attitude that I had the other morning. I was frustrated. I was tired of showing up and handing the same dryness that comes over me frequently. Didn’t I just bring this same dryness to you last week, God?

“Hi God. It is me again. I am bringing you the same dryness that I brought you____(yesterday, last week, last month….fill in the blank with the timeline). I don’t know why I feel this way, and know I should be thankful for all the blessings in my life. Can you take this dryness away please? “

-defeated Beth

Honestly, I feel embarrassed by it. I so easily fall into self shame. Shame for what I have to continually bring to God. This is not what our God wants. It is the farthest thing from what He wants. And I know this. But, just because we know things, does not mean we don’t need to be continually reminded of the truth behind our knowledge. God designed us to seek Him to give wisdom. For James 1:5 tells us “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given to him.”

Without Reproach

Let those two words sink in. God gives us wisdom generously without reproach. God does not have the same disappointment or shame that I bring on myself when I ask Him to help with the continual dryness that I seem to struggle with. God feels quite the opposite. He is not frustrated with me. He is not disappointed with me. God wants me to bring Him every dry bone, so that He can quench the dryness with His grace and love. He wants to bring my weariness life and wants to pull me from the valley of defeat. Let’s remember, our God is a God of wisdom and generosity. He does not want us to stay in our dry bones. He does not want us to wallow in our shame. Even if we fall back in after being rescued already, God will never tire of extending His lifeline to us.

“Even if we fall back in after being rescued already, God will never tire of extending His lifeline to us. “

Give it to God even if you don’t feel like it.

So, there I sat a few days ago, frustrated, disconnected and tempted to walk away from my prayer time. I wanted to move on with my day without taking my dryness to God. Instead, I took a deep breath in, then exhaled loudly. I grabbed my pen and started to journal some thoughts.

“Okay, God, here are my dry bones. I am rather frustrated that they are so dry and I cannot seem to bring them back to life on my own. Even worse, God, I feel like there is no reason for them to be dry. Can you breathe life back into these bones? Can you erase this defeat and shame that is consuming me? “

As my words rolled off my pen, I heard God prompt me with the following verses from Ezekiel 37.

” Thus says the Lord God to these bones: Listen! I will make breath enter you so that you may come to life. I will put sinews on you, make flesh grow over you, cover you with skin, and put breath into you so you may come to life. Then you shall know that I am the Lord. “

-Ezekiel 37:5-6

This verse was just the reminder I needed. Just as God spoke to Ezekiel, He was using this verse to speak wisdom into me. God asked Ezekiel to go out and be among the bones. Everywhere he looked, Ezekiel saw dryness. Ezekiel needed to be made aware of the dryness of the people of Israel and put his faith in God to revitalize the dry bones. Ezekiel needed to believe that God would resurrect the people of Israel. Through the prophet Ezekiel’s visions and faith, he brought hope back to Israel that indeed with God, the covenant was not broken. New life can be brought to dead and dry bones. I needed Ezekiel’s hope. I needed to hear that God will not leave my dry bones dry forever. He will not keep me buried in bones of shame. So, my friend, even when we are frustrated with ourselves, or sitting in a deep valley of shame, we need to take it to God. Even if we don’t feel like it.

Give It To God + Give It To God Again + Receive Without Reproach

Give It To God. When your bones feel dry, give them to God. Lay the dryness at His feet. Then wait.

Give It to God Again. If the dryness continues, take it to God again. Remember, our God never tires of us. He is waiting for us to bring Him what is dry and dead within us.

Receive God’s Wisdom Without Reproach. God brings us wisdom with no disappointment. God will not bring shame when we come to Him continually with dry bones we are struggling with. He wants us to seek Him for wisdom. He is our all-knowing Redeemer and the healing to what is dry within us.

Not all of the dryness has subsided for me yet, but I am moving forward in hope that if I continue taking my dry bones to God, He will continue to work on revitalizing what is dead. He will breathe new life into me where it is needed. God will breathe new life into your dry bones too, friend. Don’t let the enemy let you think otherwise. Shame is from the enemy. Life and wisdom are from God. Let us choose wisely.

Dear Lord, bring life to my weary and dry bones. I ask that you take away the feelings of defeat that are surrounding me and help me to rest in your word and wisdom. Protect me from the enemy and the feelings of shame that are on attack. You are a generous and loving Father, who never grows weary of my requests. I present to you today all the parts and places within me that are feeling worn down or dead. Bring them back to life Lord! In Jesus' Name, Amen.