Parson to Person - Holy Spirit helps in times of hopelessness

The Jewish people in the prophet Ezekiel?s time felt that God had deserted them.

They were living in exile, taken from their homeland. Then, Ezekiel received a vision from God. ?The hand of the Lord was upon me, and he brought me out by the Spirit of the Lord, and set me down in the midst of the valley; it was full of bones. And he led me round among them; and behold, there were very many upon the valley; and lo, they were very dry.? (Ezekiel 37:1-2)

This vision of the valley of dry bones is symbolic of the feelings of the people. Their nation was gone. Their capital city was gone. Their temple was gone. And the people came to the conclusion that God had left them, too.

How many of us have had that feeling of hopelessness as we go through personal tragedy, or see the results of human sinfulness in this world?

Is it the death of a loved one that we can?t seem to get over? The zest for living just seems to be gone forever.

Is it a marriage on the rocks? You?ve tried, but it doesn?t seem to get any better?

Is it a job that isn?t working out?

Is it an addiction you?re trying to break out of and you seem to be getting nowhere?

For you who are graduating, is it fears of the future that are now starting to crowd out all of your beautiful dreams?

For all of us, is it the shadow that death casts over human existence that troubles us, reminding us of our own mortality?

But in the midst of despair and hopelessness our God comes to us.

?Can these bones live?? God asked Ezekiel. (Ezekiel 37:3)

They can if the wind blows on them. The word for wind, breath and spirit is all the same in the Hebrew language of the Old Testament. Where there are dry bones, there the wind blows. There, the Spirit of God is at work. Life is brought back to the Jewish people. Within 70 years they are back in Judah. The temple and the walls of Jerusalem are rebuilt. God has acted.

In the same way, in our brokenness, God comes to us. At this time that we celebrate Pentecost, and every day, we need to hear again the word of hope that God has for us.

God is at work, even now, breathing life into a world scarred by pain and ravaged by death. The Spirit of God is moving among us, bringing fresh vitality and renewed hope to lives parched by aimless wanderings through spiritual deserts.

Where the Holy Spirit is allowed to direct and control, to inspire and to blow, then there, life will always be renewed, even in the driest valley of hopelessness.