Beauty For Ashes
Written by Jarred Rushing
(6 minutes)
The mighty Spirit of Lord Yahweh is wrapped around me
because Yahweh has anointed me,|
as a messenger to preach good news to the poor.
He sent me to heal the wounds of the brokenhearted,
to tell captives, "You are free,"
and to tell prisoners, "Be free from your darkness."
I am sent to announce a new season of Yahweh's grace
and a time of God's recompense on his enemies,
to comfort all who are in sorrow,
to strengthen those crushed by despair who mourn in Zion--
to give them a beautiful bouquet in the place of ashes
the oil of bliss instead of tears,
and the mantle of joyous praise
instead of the spirit of heaviness.
(Isaiah 61:1-3)
One day while vacationing in the Smoky Mountains, our family was pulling out on to a stretch of road, heading to our destination, and as we turned on the busy highway we noticed a road crew picking up trash in the median. It happened to be group of people doing some community service. What caught our eye was the bright orange vests that they were wearing. I noticed some writing on the back of one particular vest and as I focused my eye I could clearly make out its message. In big, bold, black letters it read, "I AM A DRUNK DRIVER." As we continued driving on the mountain road, I couldn't shake how disturbed I was at what I had just witnessed. I turned to those in the car and struck up a conversation about the vests and how that is exactly what religion did to us.
Religion wants you to be most acquainted with your ashes, your brokenness. Religion doesn't just want you to be acquainted with it, it really wants you to be defined by it. Years and years under the influence of religion leaves us in a place where we find the bulk of our identity wrapped up in the sin that we can't get out of our lives. We wear these ashes like badges of honor, or should I say badges of shame. The ashes are everything we don't like about ourselves and feel powerless to change. It leads us into deep despair and hopelessness.
A very important truth that we heard this past weekend is that hope and hopelessness can't dwell together. You can have one or the other, but you can't possess both at the same time. Modern science echoes this truth in their discovering that you can't be anxious and grateful at the same time. We can only hold one or the other. We can't carry hope and hopelessness simultaneously. Jesus has come to make a trade with us. He has a beautiful, garland headdress that He wants to place on our head in exchange for the ashes that we've been wearing. Beauty for ashes.
This beautiful headdress or crown symbolizes so much. This headdress is one that would have been placed on the head of a new bride, so it symbolizes our marriage and union with Yahweh, especially in the realm of our thinking. The headdress is also a symbol of authority, power, righteousness and a sound mind. It is very much the beautiful mind of Christ that He wants to adorn us with. He wants us to lay down how we've been thinking about ourselves, and in light of His perfect love He wants us to embrace this crown of beauty, that is His wonderful thoughts toward us.
So many of us are carrying hopelessness in certain areas of our lives. There are areas in our life right now that we don't believe will ever change. We have partnered with the belief that "this is how it's always going to be." I will always struggle with this. This will always be a problem. We've even whispered in our most desperate moments that only death will solve it. Our comfort has come in believing that when we die it will all be better. We ran to religion for help and then we discovered that they had no answers at all, just bright orange vests that exacerbated and intensified the problem. I really need you to see the part that religion played in this, because we had a measure of hope before we got entangled with religion. It promised healing, but only delivered shame. Now we find ourselves on this side of the road carrying more shame and guilt because, not only did we have a problem but now, we've discovered we're powerless to change it. We've tried everything and there's nothing left to do.
This is the moment that Abba has been waiting for. The presence of ashes implies that everything has been burned down and nothing remains. These are the areas that His love is coming after. He binds up the brokenhearted.
"Going through the motions doesn't please You, a flawless performance is nothing to You. I learned God-worship when my pride was shattered. Heart-shattered lives ready for love don't for a moment escape God's notice." (Psalm 51:17 MSG)
"He heals the wounds of every shattered heart." (Psalm 147:3)
He has sent Jesus to you, specifically, to heal the wounds of your broken heart. He has come to announce good news to you, that you are already free from your darkness. We are walking in a new season of Yahweh's grace and He's coming after all His enemies: sorrow, despair, ashes, tears, and the spirit of heaviness. He will not allow them to dominate and control your life. There is more in store for you.
Abba loves you. Abba is on your side. He is coming after you. And He is relentless.
As you walk with Him today, allow His love to flow into those areas of hopelessness. You can identify them because they are the areas that you have come to believe will never change. As Solomon writes in his Song of Songs, "Let him smother you with kisses--his Spirit-kiss divine." Let Abba love you, even the parts of you that you don't love about yourself. His perfect love will cast out all of your fear, and before you know it, you will have His hope in these areas. Stop gazing at the problems and start gazing at the One you are married to.
That bright orange vest doesn't fit you, but His beautiful crown does.
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Worship: "Sound Mind" by Melissa Helser
Honor: Give Online to The Wilderness Place
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