I'm sure we would all agree that the most important part of reaching your goals is taking that first step. In order to have a good day, you have to get out of bed. If you want to reach your destination, you've got to get in the car. It's just common sense. In Ezekiel's case, his ministry as a prophet began with being told by God what he was supposed to do. But when I was reading his story the other day, I noticed something that at other times I would have been tempted to simply overlook:

"As the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud in the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness round about. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD. And when I saw it, I fell upon my face, and I heard a voice of one that spake. And he said unto me, Son of man, stand upon thy feet, and I will speak unto thee. And the spirit entered into me when he spake unto me, and set me upon my feet, that I heard him that spake unto me."
-Ezekiel 1:28-2:2

As we've already seen, in order for Ezekiel to be used by God, he had to be told what it was he had to do. But what I want us to notice is that in order for God to speak to Ezekiel, he had to get up off the ground, dust himself off, and stand up. In other words, whether or not he would even be able to be used by God was dependent on Ezekiel standing up! Do you see where I am going with this? In order for us to be used by God, we have to get up off the ground and stand up! It's not a question of whether or not the Lord can use us; but it's a question of whether or not we are going to allow Him to!


And one more thing: the Scripture doesn't say, "And Ezekiel stood to his feet by his own strength." It says that the Spirit entered into him, and set him on his feet! We cannot do this by ourselves! We must allow God Himself to lift us up and set us on our feet!

"...for without me ye can do nothing."
-John 15:5