By David Faust
Have you ever been in a situation where everything looked hopeless and you felt overwhelmed?
During a mission trip to Romania last spring, I visited Ukrainian refugees who had fled from their war-torn country. As a group of refugees gathered to meet our American team, our translator Sergei told me, “75 percent of the people at this camp are not believers in God. Please tell them the gospel.”
I gazed at my weary listeners—mothers with young children, a scared-looking teenage boy, and some tired-looking old men and women with despair on their faces. How could I possibly help them? My normal sermon preparation steps didn’t apply in that moment. Using John 3:16 as my text, I told them about God’s love and assured them that Christians throughout the world were praying for them.
Later that week, our mission team visited a transition center where we met a group of parentless teens who had recently come off the street. Eventually they would be placed in an orphanage or a foster home, but for now these Romanian teenagers sat on a bench staring at me. One girl sat alone with her head down. Before entering the room, we were instructed, “Don’t hug them. They have lice.” We brought candy bars to share, but a few bites of chocolate wouldn’t solve the grim problems these young people faced.
The translator asked me to speak. Again, I didn’t have a well-prepared message to deliver, but I prayed for God’s help and told them, “This is my first time to visit your country. Driving across Romania, I noticed a large field filled with sheep.” I shared Jesus’ story about a shepherd who had 100 sheep, and when one was lost, the shepherd searched and found it, then joyfully carried it home on his shoulders. “Think of the heavenly Father as your good shepherd,” I encouraged the teens. We prayed for them and handed out candy before we left. I gave the girl who sat alone two candy bars. She managed a smile of thanks and then walked over and hugged my wife.
DRY BONES
God confronted Ezekiel with a desperate-looking situation—a ghastly Death Valley filled with skeletal remains. Bones filled the valley, and they were dry bones, indicating the bodies had been dead a long time.
When the Lord asked, “Can these bones live?” the prophet gave an honest answer: “Sovereign Lord, you alone know” (Ezekiel 37:3). Some situations are so desperate and complicated, only God himself can resolve them. The people of Israel said, “Our bones are dried up and our hope is gone,” but God promised, “I am going to open your graves and bring you up from them” (vv. 11-12). What looks impossible to us is possible for the Creator of life.
Could spiritually dead Israel ever be restored? God said, “Prophesy to these bones” (v. 4), and after Ezekiel preached, God transformed the bones into a living army filled with his Spirit.
MY BONES
What did our little group of American visitors accomplish in Romania? Our short visit couldn’t fix all the problems. When we left, those Ukrainian refugees and lonely teens still faced an uncertain future. Did we plant any seeds of hope in their hearts? Only God knows.
But this I know: Over time, God can bring new life to desperate souls. A young man who picked us up at the airport in Romania was abandoned in a train station when he was 4 years old, but thanks to caring Christians, he grew up in a big family and now he’s a capable 23-year-old studying at a local university. We met a young woman who was sex trafficked at age 7. Only the Lord knows the full extent of her trauma. But her adoptive family gave her a chance, and now she is a confident looking 19-year-old with hope for the future.
By God’s grace, even in desperate situations, people can be reborn and life can be restored. Someday I will trade my own dry bones for a new resurrection body. I don’t know exactly how this will happen, but God knows! That’s why there is still hope for Ukraine and Romania—and anywhere else in the world where human hearts receive the life-giving breath of God.
Personal Challenge: Where do you see death and despair in the world? Pray that God will restore life and hope in the ways that only he can do.
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This Application by David Faust is a companion piece to the weekly Bible Lesson by Mark Scott and Discovery Questions by Michael C. Mack. This small-group Lookout Bible study material is free. Download a PDF of this week’s lesson material: LOOKOUT_September18_2022.
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