This passage opens up with vivid, even painful, imagery as the prophet Ezekiel is carried away by the Spirit and led to a valley of dry bones. Ezekiel comes face to face with this grotesque picture of death as his eyes span the expanse of a valley permeated with the stark white bones of her victims. And there, in this valley of death, God questions him- “Do you believe that these bones can live again?”

Lent is a time to look inward, to examine the condition of your heart, and see where you truly are in respect to a Holy God. Often this process can be vivid, even painful, as you come face to face with the parts of you that are dead, lifeless, and dried out. During this season, as the Spirit leads you to these parts of yourself, ask “Do you truly believe that these places can live again?”

I am thankful that just as Ezekiel’s experience in the valley of bones doesn’t end with death, ours doesn’t either. For when the prophet began to speak the words the Lord had given him, life began to pour into the valley of death, bones began to dance, and hearts finally beat again. Because we serve a God who can breathe life into the most hopeless situations, pour healing into the most broken hearts, and bring newness to even the most destitute states. Preach God’s Word to the dead places inside of you and watch as He proves that yes, even our dead places can live again.