DRY BONES

Summer is hard for me. There is just no other way to describe it. As someone who is surviving grief (I'm only surviving day by day, but that's what a survivor does, right???) I know that certain times of the year are harder than others. December is a downer for several reasons,  but summer to me is romantic vacations (that never happen anymore) and family vacations (where someone is always missing).  I have felt dried up inside. Mentally, spiritually, physically. Thank goodness for a loving God who doesn't care how messed up I am or how far away I try to run. He is always there to welcome me home.
Feeling dried up and spiritually dehydrated made me think of the story in Ezekiel 37 about the dry bones. This is a vision that God gives to Ezekiel about the nation of Israel coming back together, which has nothing to do with me, but because all scripture leads back to Jesus, I'm going to take some liberties to draw comparison. God showed Ezekiel a valley that was full of bones and Ezekiel makes sure that we know they are "very dry bones".  My study Bible says to picture these bones as lifeless, scattered and bleached by the sun. I can so relate to this because there are times when I feel that life has chewed me up and spit me out into the blazing hot Arizona desert. And I, in all my dramatic glory, have decided to lay in the desert dirt and feel sorry for myself, allowing myself to dehydrate and wither away. How sad and pathetic, but such is the case. God then asks Ezekiel, "Can these bones live?" I can hear myself answering in the way Ezekiel did, only with self pity inserted...*big dramatic sigh and hand to forehead*, "O Lord God,  You alone know." ***Side Note*** Does God roll His eyes? Cuz I feel like now would be an appropriate time.
Then God says to Ezekiel, "Prophesy over these bones and say to them, O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. Thus says the Lord God to these bones: Behold, I will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live, and you shall know that I am the Lord." Then you know what happened? Ezekiel did exactly what God told him to do and those bones started rattling! They came together, grew skin and God breathed breath into those bones and they stood up! Then the bones told God they had lost hope, but God reminded them of their future and the hope that comes from knowing Him.
If God can make dry bone come together and have life again, then He can do the same in my broken down life! Why do I forget sometimes that He is the life-giver, life-sustainer and where my true hope is found? Regardless, I do lose my way sometimes and wander into the dry bone desert of depression, sadness, grief and isolation. I give Him praise for always chasing after me to remind me of the hope that I have in Him and the peace that comes when I finally give my anxieties over to Him. If you are like me and feeling dried up, let me encourage you that God has a plan and purpose for your life. He knows right where you are and wants you to find His oasis in the desert of your life. He can bring back to life the driest, dehydrated, bleached out bones of your beautifully broken life.