“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.” Isaiah 61:3 NKJV
Good morning! It’s time for some good news. If you feel hopeless, at a loss or like there’s nothing good coming of your situation, there’s beauty for that. Maybe that prayer you have been praying for years seems like it’ll never get answered or your situation doesn’t look like it’ll change. Maybe you may feel like you failed or have unachieved dreams and that it’s the end of your story. Please know there’s beauty for ashes.
The earth itself speaks of God giving beauty for ashes from Genesis to now. In Genesis, when the earth was without form and void, full of chaos and waste, God hovered over the face of the deep, and pondered what He was about to create from the chaos and waste that was present. Then He created the heavens and the earth. And it was good.
Then He made mankind and set us in the creation. We were good too but we messed things up and created chaos not too long after. God still being good at making beauty from ashes, made a way to fix it with Jesus. For all the messes in our lives or hard times that will come or the losses we may face whether self-imposed or not, there’s beauty for ashes. God has joy to crown you with in the face of what your situation might say.
I have seen God time and time again in my life give beauty for ashes from dreams being brought back to life, to God restoring relationships that were broken, to healings and miracles and so much more. From God delivering me from a detour I took from Him, and restoring and keeping me is God giving beauty for ashes. If God can give me all this beauty in place of the ashes, then anyone can have it.
If we look at the phrase “beauty for ashes,” we see it’s an exchange here. God gives beauty when we give Him the ashes. It is because of God’s nature- His goodness, grace, mercy, and love- He does this. Will you exchange what is lost, impossible, broken, or chaotic and receive the beauty, hope, joy, wisdom, love, life that He has to give? When there’s this exchange, you’ll see change and say only God could do it. It’s for His glory and it’ll be your testimony.