The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion—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. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor. —Isaiah 61:1-3
I found a beautiful heart shaped leaf on the ground as I walked the other day. At first it seemed out of place, lying gingerly atop the muck by the roadside, soft and shapely next to rocks and mud. And then I realized that the leaf owed its beauty to the unsightly ground it lay on. Without the benefit of the rocks and mud, the tree from which it had fallen would never have been able to take root.
It struck me as a perfect illustration of God’s plan to bring beauty from ashes in our lives. The beauty of God’s grace and love in our lives frequently grows out of the rocky terrain of trials and the mud of suffering. When placed against a backdrop that is darkened by suffering and trials, the brilliant beauty of God’s work in our life is accentuated.
We all have a past. We all have suffering in our past. Some of that suffering was self-inflicted through poor decisions and rebellion against God. Some of it was inflicted by the abuse and rebellion of other people. Some of it came into our lives through our circumstances. But, whatever venue your life may reflect, suffering has found a place in all of our pasts and will likely make an appearance in our futures as well.
You may look back at your life and see decades of poor decisions, a complete rebellion against the One to whom you yearn to surrender. It is a natural thing to wonder what your life would be like if you hadn’t made the bad choices, if your circumstances had been different, if your abusers had been absent. It’s a natural thing to wish to redeem those years.
But take heart, Jesus is our Redeemer. And, it isn’t just our current and future lives that He redeems for eternity, but also our past that He redeems. What can seem like time lost, by the miraculous grace of Christ, can actually be time redeemed for His glory. Our testimonies, our past failures can be turned to salvation, can be converted into an instrument in the Redeemer’s Hands. God’s grace helps our testimonies take root in the soil of suffering to bear fruit for His Kingdom.
Once we are redeemed, our past should not be a source of shame that keeps us from moving into the future, but rather a testimony of God’s goodness and mercy that we use to bring others along with us deeper into the Kingdom of God. It’s a sacrifice to use our suffering for others. Christ left us that example of suffering and sacrifice on the cross. Many times we come to the cross to receive; but after we have received forgiveness from Christ, we still try to hold onto the shame, anger or pain from our past. Will you follow Christ’s example? Are you willing to use your suffering for the glory of God and for the benefit of others?
What has God redeemed you from? I can tell you something for sure—He has redeemed you not only from the sins of your past, but He has most certainly redeemed you for Himself. When God saves us from our sins, He saves us for His purposes. He desires for us to be overcomers. Scripture tells us how that becomes a reality in our life: Revelation 12:11 says, “They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony.” It may or may not come as a surprise that there is power to overcome in the blood of Christ; but this verse also reveals the reality of our overcoming will be achieved as we share the testimonies of our life that were made real by that blood.
God has the power to use our sins, turn them into salvation, and transform each of us individually. But, He also desires for us then to take that testimony and use it for the benefit of others. Suffering is not to be hidden or disguised as shame and tucked away. Don’t live in the regret of your past. Let it be transformed into a glorious future of eternal life. From the muck of life, God births beautiful testimonies of His love. He takes our ashes and brings forth beauty. For more of Chris McMahan, order your copy of The Summer Issue here.
Photo by Chris McMahan
Chris McMahan
Latest posts by Chris McMahan (see all)
- Beauty From Ashes - June 29, 2016
- Good Enough - February 29, 2016
- Her Name Is Mahtob - February 25, 2016
