I heard this song a few days back. And it spoke to my heart. "I wasn't made to be tending a grave." I am not rebuilt with my broken parts, patched back together again. I am made for more than that. I am fully restored and regenerated. Made new. I am not made to continually look at my sin, nursing my sorrow and guilt. I am made to look at my God, my Savior, and sing His praises, be filled with His joy, and live with His new life in me.
This topic was also addressed in our Bible Study Fellowship class this week. Restoration. We were taken to Ezekiel 37:1-14 The Lord took hold of me, and I was carried away by the Spirit of the Lord to a valley filled with bones. 2 He led me all around among the bones that covered the valley floor. They were scattered everywhere across the ground and were completely dried out. 3 Then he asked me, “Son of man, can these bones become living people again?” “O Sovereign Lord,” I replied, “you alone know the answer to that.” 4 Then he said to me, “Speak a prophetic message to these bones and say, ‘Dry bones, listen to the word of the Lord! 5 This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Look! I am going to put breath into you and make you live again! 6 I will put flesh and muscles on you and cover you with skin. I will put breath into you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the Lord.’” 7 So I spoke this message, 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 complete skeletons. 8 Then as I watched, muscles and flesh formed over the bones. Then skin formed to cover their bodies, but they still had no breath in them. 9 Then he said to me, “Speak a prophetic message to the winds, son of man. Speak a prophetic message and say, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Come, O breath, from the four winds! Breathe into these dead bodies so they may live again.’” 10 So I spoke the message as he commanded me, and breath came into their bodies. They all came to life and stood up on their feet—a great army. 11 Then he said to me, “Son of man, these bones represent the people of Israel. They are saying, ‘We have become old, dry bones—all hope is gone. Our nation is finished.’ 12 Therefore, prophesy to them and say, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: O my people, I will open your graves of exile and cause you to rise again. Then I will bring you back to the land of Israel. 13 When this happens, O my people, you will know that I am the Lord. 14 I will put my Spirit in you, and you will live again and return home to your own land. Then you will know that I, the Lord, have spoken, and I have done what I said. Yes, the Lord has spoken!’”
God opened the grave for His people to be reborn and to live, not to stand at and weep. He put new life into them. Ezekiel 36:26-27 26 And I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart. 27 And I will put my Spirit in you so that you will follow my decrees and be careful to obey my regulations. We are given a new heart, new breath, and made alive with His Spirit.
What spoke to me in this song and in this lesson, what I feel God is really wanting me to understand is that I am not redeemed to my former broken state (the quote from our BSF lecture is "He doesn't redeem them back to their broken state so they find themselves in some desperate cycle of failure.). I am redeemed to a complete regeneration of my spirit by the Lord's Spirit. Made new.
There are circumstances in my life, relationships I am in that I've been praying about for years. Progress is slow and some days seems non-existent, and sometimes it seems to get worse. These relationships started as broken. But now I know that God does not want to bring the relationships and circumstances back to what they were, but to totally transform them into something new and beautiful, alive and flourishing.
The more I look at this truth, this reality of regeneration, the more I will fulfill it in my daily walk with God. The less I focus on the failure, the deadness, on what is broken and not working, the more I can set my mind on trusting God to fulfill all His promises of new life and wholeness. This lesson, these God visits strung together have raised the flag of hope in my heart and I go forward today knowing my Lord is at work and has victory in mind.
Lord, give us the surety that You do not want us standing at a grave, mourning our brokeness, the deadness in our lives. Instead, You want us to celebrate the new life You have put into us, the new breath and hearts You've given to Your children. I think we forget this all too often. I know I do. You haave made us for so much more, You have such wonderful plans for us, even when it feels hard and when the victory seems so far off. Thankk You for that victory. It is ours because of our Savior. We love and worship You for You goodness to us. Lord, help us to walk as if we were made new because we are. In the Name of our mighty Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen
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