Beauty For Ashes

BEAUTY FOR ASHES

Isaiah 61:3 said, He will give beauty for ashes; joy instead of mourning; praise instead of heaviness.

Every man, woman, boy, girl, young, old, rich and poor, is born with a purpose and destiny. No life is left to chance.

Do you know:

• What God has for you in this life?
• What will become of you when your vision in life fails?
• Or when your dreams and aspirations crumble around you?
• And when all that once seemed important to you shatters and blown to the wind?

• What will you do when you wake up one day and find that your vision in life has turned to ashes?

The Bible says in the Book of Isaiah that He will give us beauty for ashes. In the old days, it was customary for people to lie in ashes during times of mourning. Think about it for a moment. You have got a problem in your life and you feel the solution is to sit down in a pile of ashes.

There is absolutely nothing beautiful about ashes. God wants to take us out of the ashes. He wants to take your depressing and horrible situation and give you His beauty in return.

Here are some important questions for you:

• Do you consider yourself a low life?
• Have you cheated in the past?
• Do you steal and lie?
• Have you been involved in fornication?
• Have you committed murder?
• Have you had countless sexual relationships with the opposite sex?
• Have you committed an abortion?
• Have you been sexually, physically, emotionally and verbally abused in the past?

God is going to pick you up out of the ash piles and make something beautiful out of you.

You may feel like your life is so ugly and insignificant, but sometimes, things that appear to be ugly only needs the right climate to grow. All that has happened in your life was for God to get the glory by making you shine like a light.

God knew you would be burnt by life’s experiences and that is why the promise in Isaiah 61 is for you. God knew He could replace the mess in your life with something beautiful. Ecclesiastes 3:11 said, God makes everything beautiful in his time.  

Let’s look at the story of Job: he woke up one day to the reports of great devastations – the loss of his flocks, the destruction of his property and the death of his children. Remember that Job was a dedicated man of God and one that feared God and eschewed evil. (See Job 1:1). As he sat among the sorrowful ashes of a burnt out life, even his wife taunted him to curse God and die. His friends and family deserted him.

Have you been in a position where people you trusted left you during your difficult times?

Job exchanged his ashes of a burnt out life for the beauty of a restored life.

Prophet Jeremiah was set apart from birth to be a great Prophet of God. He later began to lament that much of his personal life was spent in prison, where he was let down. And so Jeremiah sunk in the mire (Jeremiah 37:16; 38:6). Jeremiah’s life must have turned into ashes.

David was yet another great example of a dedicated man of God whose life was burnt at a stage in life. Despite all these challenges, these heroes conquered and overcame by surrendering to God and allowing Him to take charge of their lives. You must learn to put an end to seeking for your own solutions by your personal strength and learn to trust God to solve all your problems.

God said to Jeremiah, before you were formed in your mother’s womb, I knew thee. The question is, do you think that God is unaware of your present condition or situation in life? God is Almighty and All-powerful and therefore, knows all things.

Have you ever experienced the death of a life aspiration?

Have you ever watched your life turn from beauty into ashes?

If you have not, then, you must know that Job’s trial was not unique to him and likewise, the experience of Prophet Jeremiah.

What are the ashes in your life today?

Are you clinging to something you know God does not approve of?

You can exchange the ashes of your burnt life for God’s beauty. God wants you to exchange the ashes of your sin and iniquity and pursuit of personal pleasures for His beauty. If there are residues of bitterness, fear, self-will, unbelief or pride in your life, bring them to His altar and pour them out as ashes in remembrance of your failed life. Submit yourself to God and receive the beauty of a new life, which is perfectly framed by the faith of Jesus Christ.

When a person mourn, no oil is to be applied to his or her face so people would know h/she is in mourning. Mourning wrinkles the face and impacts the age of a person. The joy of the LORD should always be your strength. Allow the Holy Spirit to be the oil of joy in your life. Let the Holy Spirit be your everyday personal companion. Even in times of hardship, you must learn to rejoice. If the economic situation is not favourable, rejoice! If your spouse is filing for a divorce, rejoice! Remember that God makes everything beautiful in his time.

I don’t care what sins you have committed, get closer to God today. He needs you to communicate your situation with him. He wants to see your brokenness to exchange your ashes for beauty. Therefore, cease from the self-pity and begin to talk to Him now.   
When your spirit is heavy, and you are broken-hearted, in self-pity, dejected, hurting internally, in sorrow or grief, hopeless and confused about the things that are happening around your life, I want to challenge you to put on your garment of praise. Your praise can cause the gate of Heaven to open over your life. Praise lifts the spirit and gives a person hope that there is light at the end of the tunnel.

The truth is that everyone has experienced hurt and disappointment in life. We have all been burnt by the challenges of life whether by the loss of a loved one, a divorce and termination of job, etc. Nevertheless, God does not want us to sit down and wallow in the ashes of the past. His desire for us is to trade our brokenness for His healing. God wants to give us beauty for our ashes but, we must be willing and ready to give up our ashes in order to receive the covering of His beauty.  

Dear Sisters and people of God, are you willing to trust Him with your past hurts? Are you ready to let go of the pain? Are you willing to forgive others and yourself, so you can move forward to a place of whole freedom? Do not waste another day, sitting on the piles of ashes. The past is over, get it over with right now! Allow God to give you His joy instead of mourning and give Him the chance to make something beautiful out of your ashes!

Bring the ashes of your self-will and sin to His altar now!

Let us pray:

LORD, I thank you for giving me the assurance of making my ugly life beautiful again and for promising to sweep away the ashes of my past and to give me something beautiful now. Today, I choose to give them up to you and I receive your healing and restoration now, in Jesus mighty name. Amen.