The Staggering Question

Even dry bones listen when God speaks.

Devotional Credit: Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest
Photo Credit: Unsplash

Today’s reflection from Oswald Chambers begins with a hauntingly honest question from God to Ezekiel: “Can these bones live?” Chambers presses us to ask this not only of the world around us but of ourselves. Can what is broken be made whole? Can a soul twisted by sin be straightened into the likeness of Christ? The staggering truth: only God knows—and only God can.

Chambers cautions against substituting our panic-driven efforts for Spirit-led trust. We tend to rush in with religious solutions—more Bible reading, more praying, more action—as though sanctification were a formula. But our frenzy often masks unbelief. The real work of transformation doesn’t begin with our doing but with our resting confidence that God is able.

Until we’ve encountered the depths of our own fallen nature—and the grace that raised us up—we won’t grasp the miracle of resurrection in another. We judge others harshly when we’ve never truly seen our own spiritual graves. But once we do, and once we’ve tasted God’s redemptive power in our bones, we stop despairing of others. We remember: He brings life where only dry bones once lay.

✍🏼 Personalized Journal Entry – Voice of the Holy Spirit Through Scripture

I do not ask you if you can raise the dead. I ask you to see that I can. You were once the valley—lifeless, breathless, brittle. But I spoke, and you lived. I breathed, and you rose.

When you look upon another and wonder, Can this one be changed?, remember the grave I called you from. You were not improved—you were reborn. The same Word that called Lazarus from the tomb called you out of darkness. You did not crawl into righteousness; I clothed you with it. You did not climb toward Me; I reached into death and pulled you up.

So now when I show you the dry bones of another’s soul, do not reach for your tools—reach for My voice. Speak what I give you to say, and trust Me to breathe. You are not the resurrection; I AM.

Let your faith in Me rest not on what you see but on what I have done in you. I will finish what I have begun—not only in your story, but in theirs. What is impossible with man is not only possible with Me—it is My specialty.

I open graves. I raise the dead. I make bones live again.

Scriptures referenced: Ezekiel 37:3, 12; Romans 7:18; John 11:43–44; Philippians 1:6; Luke 18:27

🦴 Real-Life Analogy

It’s like standing in a cold, silent room, flipping light switches that do nothing—until the power is restored. The wiring was there. The fixtures were in place. But without power, it was all useless. And then the moment comes—the current flows, and suddenly everything lights up. That’s what the Holy Spirit does: He restores the power source. You just speak the Word and watch Him light up the darkness.

🙏🏼 Prayer of Confidence

Father, I thank You that You alone raise the dead—both in me and in others. I do not need to manufacture life or fix what’s broken. You have already proven Your power in my story, and I trust You will reveal that same resurrection life wherever You send me. I am not the source—I am simply the mouthpiece through which You speak. I rest in that. You are the God who makes bones live.