I know I’ve been talking a lot lately about the valley season and the waiting season. When you’re in those seasons, it feels like you’re stuck in a holding pattern, just trying to keep your head above water. Or, it feels mundane. You’re out of the trenches and now the piercing heat is making you think, ‘when will I reach the mountain?’ I’ve been diving into the book of Ezekiel, and it has shifted my perspective on what we are to say.

To be honest, I was initially inspired to read about Ezekiel because of the “Hall of Faith” in Hebrews 11. I realized I couldn’t remember his story off the top of my head.

If you’ve ever tried reading Ezekiel, you know the beginning isn’t exactly a light, easy read. It starts off heavy—full of warnings, judgments, and punishments for the nations that hadn’t been following God. But then you hit a turning point.

The Shift Toward Hope

By the time you get to Chapter 34, the tone completely shifts, and hope begins to break through the clouds. Suddenly, there are all these beautiful references to God being a Shepherd. It instantly made me think of Psalm 23—the reminder that even in the darkest valleys, He is leading us, restoring us, and looking after His flock.

Into Chapter 36, the theme of restoration gets even stronger. God isn’t just correcting; He is actively promising to bring people back to life, to clean the slate, and to restore what was lost.

And then, you hit Chapter 37.

The Valley of Dry Bones

This is where we encounter the famous vision of the valley of dry bones. Ezekiel is standing in a place of complete death and stillness. The bones aren’t just dead; the text emphasizes that they are very dry. There is zero human hope left in this valley.

But God doesn’t look at the dead situation and tell Ezekiel to just sit tight and wait it out. Instead, God tells Ezekiel to speak. What is so powerful about this moment is that it happens in two distinct stages.

 1. First, Ezekiel had to prophesy to the bones. He spoke to the structure. When he did, there was a noise, a rattling, and the bones came together, covered in sinews and flesh. But even though they looked whole, the Bible says there was still no breath in them.

 2. Second, God told him to prophesy to the breath (the wind). Ezekiel had to call out to the four winds and command breath to enter the bodies. Only then did they come alive and stand up on their feet—a vast army.

It shows us that restoration is a process. Sometimes God builds the structure first, but we have to keep speaking until the life and the breath actually show up.

“Then he said to me, ‘Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to it, “This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Come, breath, from the four winds and breathe into these slain, that they may live.”‘ — Ezekiel 37:9

What blew me away this week was how God kept confirming this message to me.

Today’s sermon was about our words, and specifically how Ezekiel spoke to the dry bones. Then, I decided to listen to some saved sermons sitting on my Spotify podcast playlist that I’ve been wanting to listen to. I hit play on the first one, and lo and behold: it was *also* about Ezekiel and the dry bones.

When God repeats Himself three times in a short span of time, you stop and listen.

So what?

I realized that so often when we find ourselves in a valley or waiting season, we use our words to merely describe our circumstances. We talk about how tired we are, how dry the situation looks, and how long we’ve been waiting.

But Ezekiel shows us a different way. We aren’t called to just sit in the valley and wait for it to magically disappear. We need to speak to it. We need to take captive every thought and word to God’s power. 

We need to use our words to declare God’s promises over our dead situations. If your finances, relationships, health, or peace feel like a valley of dry bones right now, don’t just complain about the dryness. Start speaking to the structure, and then start speaking to the breath. Yes, prepare, but also open your mouth. Keep speaking life, restoration, and the truth of the Good Shepherd over them until that vast army stands up.

Our words carry power, and when we align them with God’s voice, even the driest bones have to rattle back to life.