“The hand of the Lord was upon me, and he brought me out in the Spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of the valley; it was full of bones. And he led me around among them, and behold, there were very many on the surface of the valley, and behold, they were very dry. And He said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” And I answered, “O Lord God, you know.” Then He said to me, “Prophesy over these bones, and say to them, O dry bones, hear the Word of the Lord.” Ezekiel 37:1-4
How far does your belief go? If you truly believe in something, how far does that belief journey extend and can that journey be reversed at some given point? Consider the following true story that exemplifies the slippery slope of belief.
On July 30, 1859, Charles Blondin walked into history by being the first person to walk across Niagara Falls…on a tightrope. Eleven hundred feet across and 160 feet above the surface of the water, with no safety nets or other safety devices. And he did it not once, not twice, but 5 more successive times. And he didn’t simply walk it, but added more flash and panache each time. Once he crossed in a sack, once on stilts, another time on a bicycle, and once he even carried a stove and cooked an omelet. But one famous time he crossed the tightrope wire pushing a wheelbarrow. By this time in his career he was the most famous tightrope walker in the world and the crowds had grown large, issuing tremendous cheers and ahhhs as they marveled at Blondin doing the seemingly impossible right before their eyes. What they couldn’t believe could be done was now being clearly displayed before them over and over. But this day, after crossing with the wheelbarrow, Blondin eased it in front of his audience and asked them a challenging question. “Do you think that I can push this wheelbarrow across again but this time blindfolded?” After just watching him perform the feat, the crowd all together offered a hearty yes. And Blondin delivered the feat successfully. Yet as as he returned this time, he offered a more difficult question. “Do you think I can do it again but this time with someone in the wheelbarrow?” The crowd enthusiastically offered yet another round of yes’, believing in him and everything they had just seen him do. And then Blondin did the unthinkable, he simply raised his voice and asked for a volunteer from the crowd to step forward and ride in the wheelbarrow. A long silence ensued...no one stepped forward. The people in attendance that day had seen all they needed to believe. Blondin had proved his proficiency to them time and time again. Yet when it came to placing personal faith in what they thought they believed, the wheelbarrow sat eerily empty.
Here in Ezekiel chapter 37 we see the prophet Ezekiel experiencing a rather odd vision from the Lord. The Spirit of the Lord whisks him away to a vast plain. And filling that plain is a tremendous expanse of old, dry bones. Dry in that they had long been dead, the life pulled from them, never to return. I can only imagine the scene as Ezekiel surveyed it. Scattered bones everywhere, the normal organization of a skeleton nowhere to be found. A sickly graveyard of lifeless, bleached pieces of what once claimed life. I’d like to think that God easily read the confused thoughts and twisted expression upon Ezekiel’s face; hence the question God next asks of him, “Ezekiel, do you think these bones can live?” And Ezekiel’s response is one that sees him not only peering into Blondin’s empty wheelbarrow, but buckling up for the ride across the falls. “God, You alone know.”
In that response, in those words, was shown the faith that Ezekiel held in the Lord. A faith that the world today, would easily call foolish. I can hear the worldly comments now, “Ezekiel, look around, you’re in the midst of a field full of dry, dusty, rotting bones, yet you answer as if you think your God could somehow revive them?” You see, Ezekiel had a belief that fueled with faith in Almighty God, created a belief that stretches beyond all horizons of doubt, pessimism, and human logic. With that response Ezekiel admitted that his hope was not in the bones, but in the limitless power of the Lord. In that response he confessed that he had no idea what God intended to do with those bones, but with God, he knew all things are possible. And in that response, Ezekiel showed how far his faith-fueled belief stretched as he showed confidence that God knew exactly what he wanted to do with those bones, and He would do it in His perfect ways and in His perfect timing. And as Ezekiel soon heard and then saw those scattered dry bones assembled into a living, breathing army of the Lord, he saw God take yet another trip across that highline wire, proving that foolish levels of faith are required when you serve the Lord.
No matter how crazy that tightrope may look to you today, don’t focus on the empty wheelbarrow, but instead focus on who’s pushing it. Choose instead to focus on how many trips God has made across that very tightrope and realize in foolish faith that one more trip for Him is just par for His course. You see, the world will test your beliefs just as Blondin tested the belief of his audience that fateful day. No matter what you believe in today, it all, can and will be tested beyond its limits. Leaders, economies, governments, relationships, and yes, even yourself, are all things believed in that are doomed to someday disappoint. Yet, if you choose, you can place your faith in a place that will never disappoint, bewilder, or discourage…the Lord Jesus Christ. If you have never called upon Christ to be your Savior and redeemer, today can be the day you stop simply believing and start having true faith in something so much greater than yourself. Jesus, God in the flesh, came to this planet, lived a perfect life, and made Himself the perfect sacrifice upon a cross so that all that call upon Him as Lord can have not eternal separation from Him, but eternal reunion with Him. If you’re tired of seeing your worldly beliefs constantly dashed upon the rocks, choose today to place your faith in someone that will never disappoint…the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords, your Creator…the lover of your soul, Jesus Christ.
May your faith today be stronger than your belief.
~ Dan
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