What Next?

Ezekiel 37:10
So I prophesied as He commanded me, and breath came into them and they lived and stood upon their feet, an exceeding great army.

As some of you may know, Vineyard ReCovery Church began with a mental picture that God gave me as I was praying about coming back to the Vineyard after being away for a seven years. The photo above is as close to what I saw during my prayer time as I have been able to come up with. World War II soldiers marching in the mud, headed for battle. In my mind, I saw rain falling on the soldiers and they were wearing poncho's. Each soldier had his head bowed as the rain ran off his helmet. But the road was a quagmire of mud and was filled with ruts where vehicles had traveled.

This week has been a week to revisit that picture I saw. It has been a week of puzzle pieces being given to me as I studied scripture. Pieces that came through the conversations of others with me. And last but not least was God talking to me during during my prayer time. 

The passage from Ezekiel 37 has followed me ever since I began moving in recovery circles some 17 years ago. In the passage, Ezekiel is taken to a valley, and there strewn across the land were bones of dead people. They had been there for so long that they had become dry. The marrow was gone...they were brittle and probably would snap into easily if you stepped on them. There was no pattern to the bones, they were scattered from one end of the valley to the other. It must have been a disturbing sight to be dropped into such a place. But God always has a plan and purpose for His actions.

God begins to instruct Ezekiel to do something that I probably would have considered to be dumb. God tells Ezekiel to prophesy to the bones. Speak over them, but speak only what God instructs Him to say. Ezekiel obeys. He speaks verbally, out loud, not just words but commands. The very God who spoke everything into existence is now speaking, through Ezekiel, life. A funny thing began to happen. The bones began to move under the power of God. Bone began to find connection with the proper bone it was to be united with. Clinking and clacking filled the air as this great migration of the dead took place before Ezekiel's eyes. Pretty soon there were bodies where only random piles of bones had been. 

God then instructs Ezekiel to prophecy breath to come to these bodies from the four winds to breath upon "these slain" and give them life. I find it interesting that instead of saying "these who have died", God tells Ezekiel that these all have been slain. In other words, this incredible sight of dead bodies is the result of someone or something inflicting death upon them. Ezekiel complies with God command. The result is that the bodies, which now have been covered with muscle and tissue, stand upon their feet. They are spoken of as an exceedingly great army.

I know that in Scripture, this story is God showing Ezekiel what is happening to Israel and what their future holds. But I can't help but believe that God has been showing me what is happening in the area of recovery. How many bodies would we have if everyone who is in addiction were touched by God, given real life by God and raised up from that place of death that comes through the affliction of an outside source? Granted the drugs and alcohol are taken into the body, but it is still an outside source that brings death to the individual. 

Ezekiel saw an army that numbered more than he could count. An exceedingly great army.  The one thing that I missed when God showed me the image of the marching soldiers, was probably the most important. A soldier has to be trained in order to fight in a battle. You don't send untrained men and women into battle. There is a teaching process that must take place. They must learn to think as one. To have the same purpose and direction. Whether you may want to believe it or not....we all, who claim to follow Jesus, have been put into the middle of a battle for the souls of those who haven't been saved. Those who are still existing in the "valley of dry bones". King David said that God lead him through this valley of the shadow of death. So it is a part of the call we receive from God when we turn will and life over to His care. We become a part of an exceedingly great army of former dead men and women.

The mandate of the army is liberation. God's call to us is no different. We have been given the mandate to free those still held under the bondage of sin/addiction.

Isaiah 61:1-2

The Spirit of the LORD God is upon me...

Because the LORD has anointed me to preach good tidings to the poor.
He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted.

To proclaim liberty to the captives,

and the opening of the prison to those who are bound.

To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD,

And the day of vengeance of our God.

You may be thinking to yourself, "That is the scripture that Jesus quoted when He began His ministry. How does this apply to me?" Well, we have been called to enter into the works of Jesus. In fact, He said that we would do greater (number wise) works than He did. So, in truth, His mandate from the Father is now our mandate to go forth as an army under His direction to take back that which was lost at the fall of man in the garden.

So where is all of this headed.
I think it begins with training.

You can expect an army to do warfare and not be trained.

Even the best equipped army with all the latest military hardware is no threat if they are not properly trained.
I will be sharing over the next few weeks about where I see how Vineyard ReCovery fits into this picture.

God on you...

mb