Beauty for Ashes

To grant those who mourn in Zion,
Giving them a garland instead of ashes,
The oil of gladness instead of mourning,
The mantle of praise instead of a spirit of fainting.
So they will be called oaks of righteousness,
The planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified

- Isaiah 61:3 

God will make something beautiful out of our painful seasons of life if we allow Him to do so. Some people will experience a sorrowful situation and become bitter. They will shake their fist at God and say in an angry voice, " WHY?" The truth is God may never, on this side of eternity, tell us "why". And just who are we that we think we deserve to know? Does the clay tell the Potter what to do?  However, God does want to show us His nature. His nature is to create beauty out of  ashes. To bring praise out of pain. To manufacture messages out of messes. It is who He is. He is love. He cannot deny Himself.

I am finding more and more in my walk with the Lord that if I will surrender it ALL, then things radically change. When I get real and hand over the pain and the pride, God takes those things that loom over me, churn within me, and makes them the doorway into deliverance! The gateway into the abundant life of which Jesus speaks in John 10:10 becomes a reality in my life. 

The hurts that happened  long ago may still linger deep inside.  They've become part of you and even if you do not acknowledge their presence, they have had free range to shape some unhealthy thinking patterns. They've caused you to have a mindset that is not from God and it is not good for you. God wants to set you free from that bondage.

The answer is so simple that is seems too good to be true. Take the pain and offer it up to God. Let Him work in you and transform that stronghold that holds you down. Lift it up to Him in sincere prayer. Hold it out in your hand like a little child giving his mom a half crushed dandelion. Picture in your mind the child who had picked a bouquet of little yellow flowers but by the time he got home most were lost, and the one that made it was squished and dirty. He has a tear in his eye. but his mom sees his heart and has tears of joy in her eyes. 

Our heavenly Father wants us to hand over the heartaches. He desires that we offer up the dark daggers that pierce our hearts. Be brutally honest with yourself and with God. He already knows everything there is to know!  Yet somehow, the healing happens when we acknowledge it and completely surrender it to our Heavenly Father who loves us. Only He can make beauty out of our ashes.