Beauty for Ashes

God will give us beauty for ashes, joy for mourning and praise for heaviness.

My job as a Housing Inspector II requires a lot of driving. Most days I'm traveling from one inspection to another throughout my district. Those hours alone in the car have become some of my sweetest times with the Lord. I spend them praying, worshiping, and listening to Bible teaching and Christian music.

Today, I was in my car, listening to my favorite radio station; K-LOVE and I heard a song that I haven’t heard for a long time, “Beauty for Ashes” by Crystal Lewis. I love this song, and I love the Bible verses that inspired it. 

The following is from Isaiah 61: 

            The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, because the Lord has anointed 
            Me to preach good tidings to the poor. He has sent Me to heal the 
            brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the openings 
            of the prison to those who are bound. To proclaim the acceptable 
            year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort 
            all who mourn, to console those who mourn in Zion, to give them 
            beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise 
            for the spirit of heaviness. That they may be called trees of 
            righteousness, the planting of the Lord that He may be glorified. 
            (Vs. 1-3) 

            And they shall rebuild the old ruins; they shall raise up the former 
            desolations, and they shall repair the ruined cities, the 
            desolations of many generations... (Vs. 4) 

            Instead of your shame you shall have double honor, and instead of 
            confusion they shall rejoice in their portion, therefore in their 
            land they shall possess double; everlasting joy shall be theirs. 
            (Vs. 7) 

These promises are so rich to me. God will rebuild the ruins in our lives, He will give us double honor instead of shame. He will exchange our ashes for beauty, 
our mourning for joy, and our heaviness for praise. These promises fill me with hope.

I started thinking about these promises and realized that in order for us to fully experience the joy, praise, honor, and beauty; we need to give to the Lord our shame, ashes, mourning and heaviness. We cannot experience all that the Lord has for us and still carry around with us all our junk! We need to surrender our ashes—our shame, grief, disappointment, and heaviness—to Jesus. We need to take it all and lay it down at the foot of the cross and LEAVE IT there. Give it to Jesus, that’s the reason He died--for all that stuff, for our shame, our heaviness, our mourning, all of it! 

Here is a poem the Holy Spirit inspired in me to write. It speaks of some things I needed to make into ashes and give to Jesus. I pray you be blessed by it. 

            BEAUTY FOR ASHES 

            Have you ever felt you’re crossed off someone’s list? 
            Just tossed aside - never to be missed. 
            And you thought you were so close, 
            A relationship that was unlike most. 

            One day you see them at a restaurant, 
            With old friends and what you really want, 
            Is to be accepted by them again, 
            And return to being a close friend. 

            The cold reality of it all sets in, 
            You realize it’s just somewhere you’ve been. 
            They’re moving forward - not looking back, 
            You’re part of the past, that’s a fact. 

            You shared your life, you feel betrayed, 
            You pray that feeling will somehow fade. 
            You turn to God; you want to know, 
            How to forgive and let this go. 

            You fear having close friends again, 
            You don’t want to let new ones in. 
            The friends you have are precious and few, 
            You know and pray that they are really true. 

            Giving God our ashes brings beauty in return, 
            It’s a Kingdom principle we must learn. 
            Only when we lay our ashes down, 
            Does God provide beauty all around.