Urgently Needed: Kindness
Urgently Needed: Kindness
As many of you know, our beloved United States—and indeed, our churches—are facing a deepening mental health crisis. Suicide is taking the lives of both believers and unbelievers at an alarming rate. Over the past two decades, this troubling trend has been verified with painful clarity: for the first time in a generation, life expectancy is in decline.
But this isn’t due to war, famine, or disease. It’s something much harder to see and fight—despair. People are dying younger, primarily from suicide, addiction, and abuse. All around us, we encounter individuals who feel hopeless, lost, and disconnected from the source of life. They are like the dry bones described in the Book of Ezekiel—stripped of vitality and spirit.
A Prophetic Vision of Hope
In Ezekiel 37:1–14, the prophet Ezekiel receives a vision from God that mirrors our modern-day crisis. God shows him a valley filled with bones—lifeless and scattered. As Ezekiel walks through them, God asks, “Son of man, can these bones live?” Ezekiel responds with faith and humility: “O Lord, you know.”
Then comes the divine command: “Prophesy to these bones and say to them, ‘O you dry bones, hear the word of the Lord.’”
Here lies a calling for each of us. As crisis interventionists, we can speak life through the power of God’s Word. We can offer hope to those trapped in despair. As the vision continues, God spoke to Ezekiel, He continued, “Behold, I will cause breath and spirit to enter you, and you shall live; And I will lay sinews upon you and bring up flesh upon you and cover you with skin, and I will put breath and spirit in you, and you [dry bones] shall live; and you shall know, understand, and realize that I am the Lord [the Sovereign Ruler, Who calls forth loyalty and obedient service].
So what happened next?
As Ezekiel prophesies and obeyed God’s Word, something incredible happens: a noise, a shaking, a rattling. The bones started to come together, bone upon bone. Then the sinews came upon the bones and skin of flesh came upon them but there was no spirit of life.
A person who is going through unresolved issues or crisis after another, may be alive but their life may feel spirit less. The struggle is real. The truth of God’s kindness is He does not want anyone to remain in hopeless suffering and He calls ALL to come to Him with their burdens to find life (Matt 11:28-30). This is a powerful image of those who may be physically alive but spiritually empty. People weighed down by trauma, grief, addiction, or cycles of crisis often live like these reconstructed bodies—intact, but lifeless. But God doesn’t leave them there. He tells Ezekiel to prophesy again:
“Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live.”
The Four Winds of Healing
The four winds mentioned—North, South, East, and West—represent the full spectrum of God’s movement across the earth:
North Wind: Brings rain, growth, and provision.
South Wind: Brings peace, healing, and comfort.
East Wind: Though strong and sometimes severe, it can scorch, devastate, and separate.
West Wind: Drives out the devourer and brings the blessing of transformation.
What does this teach us? Healing comes in seasons. When intervening and interceding for a person in crisis, healing can take time. The journey of healing will have its ebb and flow. By walking with them, the process includes storm and stillness, breaking and building. But the promise remains: life will return.
Called to Stand Together
When Ezekiel obeyed, the breath of God filled the bones, and they stood on their feet —and lived and stood together. If he can use Ezekiel to bring life to a valley of bones, think about what God can do through you through His kindness? God is calling His people today to do the same: to awaken our faith to live and to stand strong together. He is inviting us to partner with Him in the ministry of crisis intervention, breathing hope, help, and healing into those whose spirits have withered. I believe the God of wind will be unleashed and more people will come out of the deep valley and stand together representing the life and purpose God has given each one.
Maybe you’ve been in that Valley of Bones yourself—surrounded by shadows, weighed down by hopelessness and despair. But God brought you out and you revived. Now, you can be the hands and feet that help another stand. People need God with “skin on them.”
God, the Ultimate Crisis Interventionist
God is the greatest Crisis Interventionist of all time. He provided the ultimate safety net: our salvation through Jesus Christ. Galatians 4:4–5 tells us:
“But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.”
God intervenes at the right time. And He wants to use you to reach others in their darkest moments. Be the connection someone needs. Through the power of His Spirit, you can bring light, life, and love to those suffering.
The Voice of Kindness
When you choose to become a crisis interventionist, you’re investing in real change and trusting God for the outcome. Crisis intervention is simply kindness God’s way. We are wired for life, not death. God calls each and every one to purpose and mission in life. I believe the crisis intervention Think 3-2-1 and The BE KIND Model is a good tool—a framework for restoring hope and guiding people back to safety and trust. God wants people to breathe life again. Jesus said, “I have come that you may have life and have it more abundantly (John 10:10). By being the hands, feet, and voice of Jesus, the investment and time you give to someone in crisis will lead them to places of safety and trust.
I believe the Think 3-2-1 Strategy is one such God-given Your time, your presence, your prayers—these can lead someone from the brink of death to a life filled with purpose and meaning.
You Are Wired for Life
You were not created for despair—you were wired for life. Every single person is called to a purpose and mission in life. Every soul has value. When we speak life, love deeply, and walk with others through crisis, we embody the heart of God.
So, will you step into your calling? Will you help the dry bones live again?
Let us obey, as Ezekiel did, and watch the God of the Four winds unleash Hope, Help, and Healing.
