Beauty for Ashes

The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me;
because the Lord hath anointed me to
preach good tidings unto the meek; He
hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to
proclaim liberty to the captives, and opening
of the prison to them that are bound;
To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord,
and the day of vengeance of our God; to
comfort all that mourn
Isaiah 61:1,2

In this area where I live, I have learned that with fire, comes an unbelievable growth in nature. When we first moved here, I was greatly disturbed to see all of the fires that were deliberately set in Cades Cove by the park service. I even stopped at the ranger station and asked a ranger about what looked like total destruction to me. Not satisfied with her answer, I contacted the park service office and by e-mail was told how wonderfully I would be surprised if I watched those fields, especially come spring how lush the fields would be with plant life and beautiful flowers. They assured me that strong healthy trees are seldom destroyed and they too flourish like never before. Sure enough, come spring, the information was totally correct. I saw in reality how beauty came from ashes in those blackened fields.

The book of Isaiah is full of prophecies having to do with the coming of the Messiah, Jesus to the earth. Many theologians feel the first few verses of this chapter in Isaiah especially, gives a kind of job description regarding Jesus' coming. In fact, after Jesus' experience of being tempted by Satan in the wilderness, He returned to his childhood synagogue on the sabbath day, sat down and taught the people from these verses. It would appear that in this, He was introducing His ministry. Just look at some of the goals He had in His ministry. He would preach the good news, see to the brokenhearted, proclaim freedom to captives, even opening prison doors to the bound. He would also comfort those who mourn. I don't know about you but He's done all of that in my life. We've all been captive to something at one time or another perhaps even to the point of feeling imprisoned by habits or other things. He's been with me when I've been brokenhearted...He's been all of those things for me and probably for you as well.

The next two verses are such a blessing to me in these days and probably to many who live in our area. You will see what I mean as we look at verses 3,4 of the same chapter:

To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give
unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for
mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of
heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness,
the planting of the Lord, that He might be glorified.
And they shall build the old wastes, they shall raise up
the former desolations, and they shall repair the
waste cities, the desolations of many
generations.

I realize verses three and four are often thought to pertain to Jesus' second coming after the earth had been decimated by events of the tribulation. He would bring His people back to the earth for the millennial reign, but a lot would have to be restored and built back up after all of the destruction. Those of us who are born again Christians have benefited much from the events described in the first two verses of this chapter.

Those next two verses I can understand are significant for future events. I'm seeing those two verses being played out in our area right now in so many ways. For instance, there are many around our area who are mourning...death and destruction are all around. As hard as it may seem right, our area will be rebuilt, trees and plant life will grow again, new houses and businesses will reappear as life goes on. I have found people especially in east Tennessee to be strong people. Historically, they and their families have endured much. They've faced wilderness existences, coming of a national park that took many from their homes, financial hardship and other things other Americans face. However, I've found more of a real almost family caring among a majority who aren't even related. There's a willingness to jump in and do for others that may not be as evident in other areas of our country.

Any of us can look at our lives, some devastating life experiences and saw and felt all was lost and in our own ways, we mourned. I have seen, however, in my own experience how through such experiences I grew in the Lord and even flourished in Him like never before. It was those times in the fire of life that I wasn't destroyed, but grew by leaps and bounds. I can see now how God brought His kind of beauty in my life from what looked like the ashes that may have even smoldered for awhile.

God did everything in my life mentioned in verse 3. He gave me a new joy to replace my mourning, a spirit of praise in the heaviest of days, a strength I could never have had on my own. The health of my spiritual life was renewed hopefully that God would be glorified. He built new, exciting things in my walk with Him. All of this has happened whenever I've been led to walk a very difficult path. Any of us can choose bitterness, refusing God's direction and even love. That only prolongs the misery we feel. He wants to bring beauty from the ashes of those burning times we go through. At the time, we feel such burnings will destroy us but come God's springtime in our lives, after perhaps a time of rest, He goes to work bringing a beauty in our lives that we may not see, but that is a blessing in the lives of others.

All of this is my prayer for my neighbors who live across the valley from me that in all of the destruction and heartache, they will come to experience the beauty that can come from their ashes. For those who don't know Jesus as Savior, I'm praying this will be their time to accept Him. I want them to know His comfort, joy and yes, restoration where needed. Please pray with me for those dear folks who have lost so much, but who can know God will bring beauty from their ashes.

Heavenly Father, thank You for who You are. I've come to know your power in my life but appreciate even more Your love and how at various times, You've brought beauty from some ashy times in my life. Thank You for it all. In Jesus' precious name....Amen