Beauty for Ashes
After eleven months Pete finally went to pick up his wife’s ashes. He had avoided this task because it made him think about how much he still missed her. When the Neptune Society called about disposal of Suzan’s ashes, Pete prayed for God to speak to him through his Word. He was led to Ecclesiastes 3:20, and Ecclesiastes 12. Our bodies, our earthen vessels, are dust to dust and ashes to ashes. The promise of the word is that God will exchange ashes for beauty. In our resurrected body God will redeem beauty for ashes. Isaiah 61 says that Jesus’ purpose is to proclaim the acceptable day of the Lord… To exchange mourning for Joy… So that our Lord will be glorified. Ashes are temporal, but life in Christ is eternal. God said to Pete, “treasure your precious memories you had with your wife until I bring you home. Keep a grateful heart and when you have finished your course, I will exchange beauty for ashes when I bring you home to be with me.”
According to this prophecy about Jesus Christ in Isaiah 61:1-3, “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 the 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; 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.”
Isaiah spoke these words from God as a prophecy of the coming of the Messiah, “The spirit of the Lord is upon me.” The importance of this life is God’s spirit within us. Our earthly vessel of this temporary body is just the container. According to 2 Corinthians 4, we have this treasure of the spirit of life in Christ in an earthly vessel that the excellency of the power may be of God and not of us.
Paul said, “that I may know Him and the power of his resurrection being conformed to the image of his death.” God reminds us that we must die to self in order to live for him. For when I am weak then I am strong in his power. It’s not about whether we live or die. It’s not whether we live in comfort. The world will give us “hard landings.” However, God gives us soft landings… When our purpose is His purpose we can rest in His assurance when he says, “I’ve got this.”
We’re blessed when he “helps himself to our lives.” Ray Comfort wrote a book called “God has a Wonderful Plan for your Life.” On the cover was a picture of Steven being stoned. What men meant for evil God meant for good. The darker the night the brighter the light shines. When we come to the end of ourselves, then we will know that only He can deliver. The deliverance is in this life or the next. As Mother Theresa said, “God works best with nothing.” For him to fill me I must approach his throne with empty hands.
Ashes in Biblical times signified mourning and grief. It shows that we are disgusted in our fallen flesh. For in my flesh dwelleth no good thing. It’s like when the prodigal son, living in the pig pen and craving pig slop, finally “came to himself.” This is the point of repentance. When we confess that we’re sinners in need of a Saviour, God calls to us, “Come on home, son.” When we turn from sin and come to him with a broken and a contrite heart, we can pray like David, “Create in me a new heart O Lord.”
In Matthew 11:28 Jesus said, “come unto me all you who are weary and are heavy laden and I will give you rest.” We can rest in him because we’re complete in him. The world’s man code says, you’re not smart enough, you’re not rich enough, you’re not strong enough…you’re just not good enough. The world gives a rational thought. However, the spiritual reality is irrational. When you walk by faith, the world will say that you are illogical and unreasonable. A Muslim leader said to the leader of the Coptic Christians, “you Christians are our best friends. When we kill you, you forgive us.” Many Muslims turn to Christ when they see the stark contrast between the evil hatred of Muslim jihadists and the “illogical” righteous loving kindness of true Christians.
Without the grace and mercy of God we can never give enough, serve enough, work enough or get enough. When is enough enough? According to 2 Corinthians 3:15, “Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God…” Our riches are only in him and not in the temporal things of this fallen world. The Lord gives and the lord takes away. Only He himself enough: He is our sufficiency, our portion and our allotment. He is our all in all.
The world’s man code says, “avoid pain at all cost.” However, trials and tribulations are our “friends.” According to the Word, our friends are whatever turns our hearts to the Lord. For tribulation worketh patience, and patience experience, and experience hope. And hope maketh not ashamed because the love of God is shed abroad in our heart but the Holy Spirit which is given to us.
Paul said to his “son in the faith” Timothy, “foolish and unlearned questions avoid for they do engender strife. The servant of the Lord must not be quarrelsome, but kind unto all, able to teach, with meekness and humility gently correcting them that oppose themselves. If perhaps God would grant them the knowledge of salvation.” They will take notice, not of the wrath of God but of the love of God. For it it’s the goodness of God that calls a man to repentance. Love is the nature of God himself.
The world demands perfection. However, God knows that we are but dust. God allows grace and mercy so that we can grow. He will restore beauty for ashes. For by grace we are we saved through faith. And that not of ourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works lest any man should boast. Salvation is according to his love and kindness… Not because of who we are but because of who He is. God is love and in him there is no darkness at all.
When confronted by the evils of this world, what would Jesus do? When they nailed him to the cross Jesus said, “Father forgive them, for they know not what they do.” He for the joy (of our salvation) that was set before him, endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. He gives us his righteousness in exchange for our sinful nature. For he who was without sin was made the perfect sin sacrifice on our behalf that we may be made the righteousness of God in him.
Our Heavenly Father gave us beauty for ashes when we were born again. Because of his unconditional love, He gave us the beauty of life in Christ instead of the ashes of sin and death. O death where is thy sting, O grave where is thy victory? Because of the resurrection, in Christ death is swallowed up in victory.
May we ever live to the praise of the glory of His grace!
Your brother in Christ,
Michael