The Pause Before the Power: When the Bones Come Together But There's Still No Life
What You Need to Do When the Miracle Pauses Midway
Tolu launched a business she believed God had led her to start. Everything came together so fast, it almost felt supernatural. She got her startup capital through a miraculous gift, found the perfect office space without stress, and even secured a few big clients in her first month.
People around her kept saying, “This is God’s hand at work!” And honestly, she believed it too.
But then… things plateaued.
Month after month, no new clients. The original ones dropped off. Her accounts began to bleed. She had a good structure, a great brand, and a clear calling. But no life. No growth. No breath.
Tolu couldn’t understand it. She had obeyed. She had prayed. She had even fasted.
Why did everything feel stuck?
One night while praying, she cried, “Lord, You said You would bless the work of my hands! Why does it feel like I’m in a fix?”
In the stillness that followed, she heard a gentle whisper in her heart: “You’ve spoken to the bones. Now, speak to the wind.”
This brings me to something I saw recently in Ezekiel 37.
If you’ve ever read Ezekiel 37, you’ll notice that the transformation of the dry bones into an exceedingly great army happened in three distinct stages:
First, they were very dry bones scattered across the valley.
Then, they became cadavers—bodies formed and covered with sinews, flesh, and skin, but without breath.
Finally, they rose as a mighty army when breath entered them.
Why Did the Transformation Pause?
But here’s a question that stirred in my heart: Why did the transformation pause after the bones had come together and been covered with flesh and skin? When God promised Ezekiel that the bones were going to live again, there was no indication that there would be a pause in the process. Here was the promise:
“Surely I will cause breath to enter into you, and you shall live. I will put sinews on you and bring flesh upon you, cover you with skin and put breath in you; and you shall live” (Ezekiel 37:5–6, NKJV).
The goal was clear: breath would enter the bones, and they would live.
But by the end of verse 8, the Bible says, “…but there was no breath in them.” Everything else had come together—bones, sinews, flesh, and skin—but breath was still missing.
And so, Ezekiel had to prophesy again.
Why?
Why did Ezekiel have to speak a second time before breath came? Why wasn’t his first prophecy enough, especially since he had spoken exactly as God commanded in verse 7? Couldn’t the dry bones have turned directly into living beings without that “stopover” at the cadaver stage?
As I thought about it, one obvious truth stood out to me: Even though God promised to put breath into the bones, He didn’t initially reveal how that breath would come.
The promise was: “…I will cause breath to enter into you, and you shall live...” But how was that breath supposed to come? Where would it come from? Those details weren’t revealed until verse 9:
“Then He said to me, ‘Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, “Thus says the Lord GOD: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live.””
Ezekiel was now instructed to speak directly to the wind. He had to summon breath from the four winds. Without that specific instruction, Ezekiel would have been left with lifeless bodies, no matter how much progress had been made.
And this is where it gets personal.
Sometimes, we are just like Ezekiel—stuck at the second phase.
You’ve experienced the move of God. There’s been noise. Shaking. Bones coming together. Flesh and sinews forming. Yes, you’ve seen the goodness of God.
But something is still missing.
You’ve made visible progress in your business, your ministry, your marriage, your calling. But deep inside, you know this is not the fullness of the vision. There is more.
The promise was for an exceedingly great army, not just organized cadavers.
Now, you feel stuck. You’ve hit a ceiling. You can’t seem to break through to the next level. Friend, perhaps this is your pause before the power—the phase where God is inviting you to come closer for specifics.
Knowing What Is Not Enough, You Must Know How
Ezekiel’s experience shows us that it is not enough to know what God wants to do.
You also need to know how He wants to do it.
You need light. You need instruction. You need clarity. You need details.
Without them, you risk settling for less than God’s best. It was no longer enough for Ezekiel to just call for the breath, he needs to speak to the four winds. You may keep doing the same thing over and over and wonder why the breakthrough isn’t happening.
The transformation from dry bones to a mighty army requires precision, not just obedience.
Ask for the Second Touch
Maybe what you need now is a second touch. A second prophecy. A fresh visitation where God shows you exactly what to say, where to look, and how to proceed.
Sometimes, a prolonged pause is God’s way of telling you:
“You can’t keep doing things the same way and expect a different result.”
I pray for you in this season: May you receive the light you need to break through. May the wind of God breathe upon your efforts and bring you fully into the next phase of His plan. May you not stop at the place of “almost.” May you go all the way and see the promise fulfilled. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
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Amen
This blessed me. Thank you for this great writeup sir