"God Can Turn Your Ashes Into Something Beautiful “
“— to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair.” Isaiah 61:3 NIV
by Velma Mims
Who really likes ashes? Just the thought of someone taking a cigarette bud and dropping those smudgy particles of dirt all over my nice carpet is enough to make me cringe. However, looking at the significance of an ash from a biblical point of view can be quite enlightening. Here are a few examples:
We were created from the dust of the earth. Genesis 2:7, “And the Lord God formed "man of the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.”
Those in ancient times used ashes as a symbol of fasting and mourning. Jonah 3:6, “For word came unto the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, and he laid his robe from him, and covered him with sackcloth, and sat in ashes.”
On the first day of Lent (Ash Wednesday), devout Catholics wear a marking of the cross in ash on their foreheads to symbolize mortality. Genesis 3:19, “…For dust you are, and to dust you shall return.”
Thankfully, today we do not have to go through stringent rituals. Even though we were created from dirt, God takes our ashes and makes something beautiful out of our lives. So before having the next pity party and thinking your life amounts to a worthless pile of ash—think again! You are clay in the Potter’s hand. The Good Lord is yet shaping and molding you to be all He would have you to be to His glory. When the Potter is done, you’ll be a one-of-a-kind masterpiece wearing a crown of beauty instead of ashes.
Challenge: Put a praise on it! Psalms 139:14 “I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful; I know that full well.”
