...waiting for an answer?

There's a really cool story in the book of Ezekiel that most of us know and many of us sang about in Sunday school:  "Dem bones, dem bones, dem, dry bones...". Basically, chapter 37 verse 1 says that the Lord took Ezekiel in Spirit down to the middle of a valley full of dry, brittle bones. The Lord asked Ezekiel if he thought these bones could live again. I love Ezekiel's answer; 'Lord God, only you know.'

Lord God, only you know.  Oh the immovability of Ezekiel. He didn't offer a prideful 'well I think you should bring them back to life Lord because I've worked hard as your prophet speaking to these rebellious children of yours and I could sure use the boost in morale.'  He didn't show a lack of confidence in God either though by saying 'I don't think so...how could that even happen?' No, just a resolute 'Lord God, only you know.'

Even typing this I was prompted to ask myself 'Lord, can you make this sick body of mine come back to life (this sick child of mine, this sick marriage of mine, this sick job of mine...you fill in the blank)? And the peace that rushed through me as I was able to type with unwavering confidence 'Lord God, only you know.' And why the peace? Because it was okay with me that I didn't know the answer to my question...but I knew that God did.

Well, the Sunday school song tells the rest of the story of course. God put those dry bones back together and they got up and walked away! Then God told Ezekiel that this was what was going to happen to the children of Israel. They would be brought back to their land, he would put his Spirit in them, they would know and believe once again that the Lord God was the One True God AND they would understand that he's the One Who did this extravagantly gracious thing.

And this is true for us today as well.  Stop and think for a moment about that one question you need to ask God at this moment, this time, this season of your life. Do you have the confidence to wait on his answer because you truly believe 'Lord God, only you know'? If not, it's okay...this is a heavy reality to accept.  So...ask the Lord to begin to teach you how to accept it. Trust me...it's exilerating!

And by the way, if you think the above story is simply an allegory, look online to see what happened to the Jewish people in 1948.