Isaiah 61:3 says,
“and provide for those who grieve in Zion-- to bestow on them a crown of beauty
instead of ashes, the oil of gladness 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.” I have thought much about this scripture. To be honest, I have had a love/hate
relationship with it. Here is what this
verse has taught me...
1) God provides
what we need when we need and how we need it.
Many times I don’t even know what I need, but thankfully my Master
does...especially when I grieve!
2) God takes the
devastating ashes of my hurt and pain and transforms them into a crown that
sits beautifully on my head. Only God
can redeem the hurt, pain, sorrow, and agony of loss. Only God...and thankfully He does!
3) God reminds me
of happy memories with Allie. And those
happy memories with her are thick like oil and just like oil, can’t be easily
removed!
4) God clothes us
with hope. In the lowest valley, He is
still there wrapping us in hope. Hope
for the present and hope for the future.
The result? We praise Him, even
in pain and grief!
5) God likes to
show off His children...and He does it best when His children go through tough
stuff and still trust Him. Honestly,
Jane and I don’t always feel like He is shining through us, but we know He is,
even in our dark times. And honestly, we
don’t always feel like we are solid as an oak, but we know that we are in Him!
I guess it is true that love wins out over hate -
every time:)!
Loving and Leading,
Jeff Powell
