Receive a Beautiful Crown in Exchange for Ashes
This week at the Confident Woman Workshop following our Facebook Live, we discussed the wounds we all experience in life. We were encouraged when someone in the group shared John 16:33 AMPC
that says “In the world we will have tribulation and distress and suffering, but be courageous [be confident, be undaunted, be filled with joy]; Jesus has overcome the world.”
What a joy it brought to our hearts knowing God is able to take the ashes from our pain and turn them into opportunities of wholeness, maturity and transformation. How encouraging it was to know that there is nothing that can scar us for life. There is nothing that we cannot recover from, and nothing that God cannot heal. We can be filled with hope knowing that with His help, we can overcome.
We can keep moving forward on God’s paths, knowing that all our stumbling ways will be divinely healed (see Hebrews 12:13 TPT)!
I want to live in that divine health, don’t you? Often though, we find that the wounds of life are not the real problem, it is about whether or not we are willing to let go of the resentment, hurt and unforgiveness. It is about not wasting the pain by letting God work it out for our good (see Romans 8:28).
We may all begin with ashes, but when we release them to Jesus, He makes something beautiful. The letting go of the bitterness and resentment is not easy to do, but with the help of the Holy Spirit we can experience comfort and encouragement in every trouble.
Isaiah 61:3 TPT says He will “give them a beautiful crown in exchange for ashes, to anoint them with gladness instead of sorrow, to wrap them in victory, joy, and praise instead of depression and sadness.”
Instead of thinking about how much you have gone through in life that has been painful, why not think about all the experience that you now have, and all the opportunities that are before you as God’s daughter especially as it relates to being an encourager of others.
God promises to consoles us as we endure the pain and hardship of life so that we may draw from His comfort and share it with others in their own struggles (see 2 Corinthians 1:4 VOICE).
Ephesians 4:29 TPT says it best, “Never let ugly or hateful words come from your mouth, but instead let your words become beautiful gifts that encourage others; do this by speaking words of grace to 4help them.”
Receive a beautiful crown in exchange for ashes and be willing to be used by Him to encourage someone who is hurting.
Blessings,
Cindy
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