Breath of Life that Turns Ashes into Beauty

By ​Sarah Weintraub

​Ezekiel 37:4-14 The Message (MSG)  
 He said to me, “Prophesy over these bones: ‘Dry bones, listen to the Message of God!’”  God, the Master, told the dry bones, “Watch this: I’m bringing the breath of life to you and you’ll come to life. I’ll attach sinews to you, put meat on your bones, cover you with skin, and breathe life into you. You’ll come alive and you’ll realize that I am God!” I prophesied just as I’d been commanded. As I prophesied, there was a sound and, oh, rustling! The bones moved and came together, bone to bone. I kept watching. Sinews formed, then muscles on the bones, then skin stretched over them. But they had no breath in them. He said to me, “Prophesy to the breath. Prophesy, son of man. Tell the breath, ‘God, the Master, says, Come from the four winds. Come, breath. Breathe on these slain bodies. Breathe life!’” So I prophesied, just as he commanded me. The breath entered them and they came alive! They stood up on their feet, a huge army. Then God said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Listen to what they’re saying: ‘Our bones are dried up, our hope is gone, there’s nothing left of us.’ “Therefore, prophesy. Tell them, ‘God, the Master, says: I’ll dig up your graves and bring you out alive—O my people! Then I’ll take you straight to the land of Israel. When I dig up graves and bring you out as my people, you’ll realize that I am God. I’ll breathe my life into you and you’ll live. Then I’ll lead you straight back to your land and you’ll realize that I am God. I’ve said it and I’ll do it. God’s Decree.’”

Isaiah 61:3 New Living Translation (NLT)
 To all who mourn in Israel, He will give a crown of beauty for ashes, a joyous blessing instead of mourning, festive praise instead of despair.  In their righteousness, they will be like great oaks that the Lord has planted for His own glory. 
 
​I pray the following words bring life back to your dry bones, hope for your ashes to be beautiful again …

If anyone had told me that my life would resemble a Six Flag’s size roller coaster of emotion, I may have said no thank you and missed the biggest blessings of my life.  A mixed up, spewed out, sometimes blended, sometimes not, family of 6, 8 if you count the dog and cat, which of course we do.  

When I take the time to look back over all the struggles, the anger, the heartache, the tears, the late nights, and the “Why God, Why” cries of pain, I realize, He is the only one that was/is able to bring life back into the empty shell my life had become, just like a dried up bone with no marrow, just the brittle crumbly dried up exterior of a dry bone, turning into ash. 

About a year ago, we were blessed to see the Beautiful Offerings tour, it was two months after my step son had ran away to his Mom’s; two months of a pain that cannot be explained or understood until you go through it.  Anyway, back to my point…Lauren Daigle started explaining how the song Come Alive was birthed from Ezekiel 37, The Valley of Dry Bones.  She talked about how we all have a valley of dry bones, whether it is prodigals, marriages, spouses, jobs, illnesses, etc..  While she sang, God was speaking to my heart telling me to “Prophesy over these bones: ‘Dry bones, listen to the Message of God!’”   In other words, pray with belief, declare it with confidence, and watch Him move into action.  Prayer is God’s invitation from us to move into action for us.   

For me, the dry bones were/are my emotions – the weariness from the years of custody battles, the rejection, the constant accusations, and the overwhelming feeling of failing at this stepmom thing. 

Dry bones, no marrow, a brittle shell, decaying and turning to ash.

A heart filled with anger, bitterness, jealousy, rage, etc. is not alive, it’s dead, beating but with no life.  My heart was beating but it had no life left, it had become dried up, lifeless, an empty shell of what it could be, what it should be. 

Only God can breathe life into our dry bones, turn our ashes into beauty.  God longs to turn our dry bones, our ashes into beauty.  He is patiently waiting for us to invite Him into these areas of our life, like a perfect gentleman.  

As Ezekiel prophesied to the bones, God told the bones that He was going to bring them back to life.  As the bones came back to life, God told Ezekiel “Prophesy to the breath. Prophesy, son of man. Tell the breath, ‘God, the Master, says, Come from the four winds. Come, breath. Breathe on these slain bodies. Breathe life!’”  As Ezekiel did what God asked, the breath entered the bones and they came back to life, a huge army that represented the whole house of Israel – God’s chosen people (we are still His chosen people). 

“I’ll breathe my life into you and you’ll live.  Then I’ll lead you straight back to your land and you’ll know that I am God!”  When God breathes, lives are changed, and our ashes are turned into beauty.  Once you feel His spirit moving over you, through you, you can no longer deny His existence.

As it was written in Isaiah 61:3, so it is today:  “To all who mourn in Israel, [H]e will give a crown of beauty for ashes, a joyous blessing instead of mourning, festive praise instead of despair.  In their righteousness, they will be like great oaks that the Lord has planted for [H]is own glory.”

​Prayer:  Our most beloved heavenly Father breathe Your breath of life over our ashes restoring the beauty that was once there.  We desire to have joy in our lives again, bring our festive praises before Your throne.  We want to be firmly planted for Your glory.  Breathe upon our dry bones, Lord, breathe.   We invite You into action on our behalf Lord.  Thank you for Your fresh breath on the scatter ashes of our lives.  In Jesus name, Amen.

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