Beauty from Ashes
June 17, 2005
Ever felt burned out? Or burned up? Exhausted? Angry? Hurt? Broken-hearted? Disappointed? Betrayed?
What about sick of being sick? Diseased? Dissatisfied? Disgusted? Dismayed?
I have. I’ve felt all those things…or at least loved someone who felt those ways, and my heart has hurt for them. I’ve lost sleep. Lost my patience. Felt like I was losing my mind.
When in pain, I’ve yelled out at to God: “Hey, You! What the hay are you doing? Aren’t you supposed to be loving and kind? Aren’t you supposed to give us peace that passes all understanding? Well, newsflash, Mr. Omniscient One …I don’t feel like you’re doing your job very well.”
Yes, I’ve yelled at Him, our Triune God - our Omnipotent Creator. I’ve shaken my fists, stomped my feet and spit and fussed about His Plan. Call me David-a. In Psalms, I see where the shepherd king did the same thing as I’ve done. Yes, this man who God says was one after His own heart…yelled out to God:
“My God, my God, why have your forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from the words of my groaning? O my God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer, by night, and am not silent.” This is how David calls out to His Creator in Psalm 22.
Sound familiar….like a refrain from your life? You wouldn’t be alone. Open God’s Word to the book of Mark, chapter 15, verse 34: “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani? which means ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” These are the words of Jesus, God’s own Son – our beautiful Savior.
I am humbled to know that my salvation was ensured when One in the Trinity chose to hang on a cross…to actually take on all my spitting and fussing, all my shameful sin. Jesus took all of our ashes onto Himself – He became a living sacrifice for us…and His Father HAD to look away, because God cannot be in the presence of such sin.
Imagine the hurt. The broken-heartedness. The disappointment. The dismay…
But beauty came from the ashes, as the Living Sacrifice died to become our Eternal Lord, our Resurrected King…. I honestly cannot find the words to describe the incomprehensible Love that personifies.
I, a woman of many words, am incapable of fathoming the depths of the desire God must have for us to be with Him in eternity. He not only gave us all the gift of Jesus, His Son, but He continually puts up with our whining, our wailing, and our waffling about in this walk on earth.
My God allows me to shake my fists, stomp my feet, mutter and moan…and loves me enough to not cast me from Him when I finally recognize that the exhaustion, the anger and the disease has ultimately been allowed for my growth and refinement. He allows me to repent, and then showers me with mercy and grace. An amazing thing is: He does this for all of us.
…May my life - with all its wrinkles and warts - be polished by God’s faithful forgiveness, so that it reflects the Love of my Lord. May I give Him all the honor and the glory for my redeemed soul.
“Exalt the Lord our God and worship at His holy mountain, for the Lord our God is holy.” (Psalm 99:9)
Love and Hugs,
Wallyce
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