Beauty in the Ashes

    It’s been awhile since I have wrote about the name of this blog, and why I chose it. I have several new followers, so I decided to write about the name again. First, a little background information. About 15 years ago, wow has it really been that long, I was invited on a spiritual retreat with a friend. It was a weekend of praising and worshiping God, praying, and studying scripture. During that weekend, I was praying, and being prayed for, when a woman came up to me and spoke Isaiah 61:3 over me. This says,  “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.” I immediately fell in love with that verse, and it became one of my life verses, although I didn’t really know what it meant at the time. I still don’t fully understand the whole verse, but the phrase, “beauty for ashes” means a lot to me now. Another life verse of mine is Romans 8:28, which says, “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.” The beauty in the ashes, is the good in all things. It’s the good that comes from the bad. I remember a story that Mr. Rogers told about when he was little l, and he saw bad stuff on the news. His mom always told him to look for the helpers, you will always find someone who is helping. Those helpers are the beauty in the ashes. 

   As many of you know, right now our government is in the midst of the longest running shut down in the history of keeping track of it. With that shut down has also come the cessation of SNAP benefits. Just in my county in Alabama, I have seen several restaurants offering free kids meals to children in need. I have seen businesses, individuals, and churches giving money, and food to give to those affected by the SNAP no longer being available. I have seen people step up and say, “ nobody will go hungry on our watch” This, my friends, is the beauty in the ashes of it. I have had a lot of bad happen in my life. I could choose to wallow in it, but instead I choose to look for the good. I don’t always see the good, but I know it’s there because God promised that it would be there. Sometimes I have to stop and pray, and ask God to show me the good, and He almost always does. 

   If you know me, then you know that I love the phoenix bird. Yes, it’s a mythical bird, but it symbolizes beauty in the ashes for me. A phoenix is one of the most beautiful birds, and when it dies, it bursts into flames. From the ashes of those flames, it is reborn into a baby phoenix, not particularly very pretty yet, but it will grow into a beautiful bird once again. Not only is this a beautiful picture of beauty in the ashes, but it is also a beautiful picture of Jesus coming to Earth as fully God, but also fully man, dying on the cross, being laid in the grave, and 3 days later, He rose from the grave alive, and beautiful as our Savior. Yes, OUR Savior! He died and rose again for me, and for you, my friend. If you don’t have a personal relationship with our Savior, you can at any time. If you want to talk with me about it, or if you have any questions, then drop a comment below and we can chat. I may not have the answers you need, but I promise to do my best to find them. My prayer today is that you will come to know Jesus as your personal Savior and friend. Have an amazing day.