God Still Brings Beauty From Ashes

Key Verse: “To grant to those who mourn in Zion— to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit; that they may be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he may be glorified”.”  Isaiah 61:3 (ESV)

A friendship I had worked hard to build burned that day. All the way to the ground.  All that would remain would be a few burned bricks of memories.  Words carelessly spoken would be the spark that had kindled the flames. Even though the intentions of my heart had been good that day, it would not change the outcome. No amount of regret and tears would undo the damage that I had done. 

For someone like me who truly desires to encourage others with my words, the weight of what I had done was almost unbearable. I felt I would never be of any worth to the kingdom of God again. 

And so began one of the hardest seasons of my life.

What I am learning is that God is never rendered unable to redeem what we push to the curb as utterly destroyed. Surprisingly, God’s great plans for us are never limited by our brokenness. While friendships may burn, God’s unfathomable love for us never will.  

There are times when God amazes us with complete restoration in our hopeless situations.  Other times he builds something completely new in the very place of our ruins. 

In Isaiah 61:3, there were others that felt the same devastating hurt that I was feeling. They knew what it was like to suffer loss and then have to pick yourself back up. How to push past heartache, regret and shame to start over.

But God made them a special promise to not leave them in their ashes.  He promised “to grant to those who mourn in Zion— to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit; that they may be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he may be glorified”.” (ESV Isaiah 61:3) 

 God faithfully kept his promise to his people. He filled the pages of a brand new chapter with hope and restoration. Added to their story where the enemy had long coveted to write the end.  

I would love to tell you that my friendship was restored and made stronger. But no matter how many times I cried and prayed it didn’t happen. It took time for me to grieve what was lost and move forward.

 I thought God wouldn’t forgive my carelessness and misplaced good intentions but he did.

Amazingly, God’s grace and mercy are endless. 

The enemy did not get to write the end to my story either. Instead, God lifted me from my ashes to begin a beautiful new chapter of hope and redemption.

 He brought a new friend into my life that consistently prays and speaks God’s word over me. He dried my tears that I thought would never stop falling. He replaced my grieving spirit with joy and gladness. He then put a pen in my hand and filled my heart with words that I could indeed use to encourage others.    

 No longer would my head hang down from past regret and shame.  But forever be raised to praise and honor the one who can still bring beauty from ashes. 

See you in the field,

Susan