BEAUTY FOR ASHES

Ron Gray, Missions & Outreach Pastor

I am sitting on our back patio as I write. It is 6:18 a.m., the perfect time for a morning person. The temperature is 15 Celsius, which in my opinion is the perfect temperature. There are a few clouds in the sky and they are infused with the glow of the rising sun. The wind is gently rustling the leaves on the trees and the birds are welcoming the day. The grass on the slope by our house and the distant valley are green from all the recent rain. Even as the sun rises, the moon is bright and full against the blue morning sky. I’ve never seen anything like it! It is a perfect morning… except for the traffic noise on the road behind our house… the low pain I have in my side… the dread of that one conversation I need to have… the dread of how much it is going to cost to fix the car… the deep concern I have for that person I love very much… and on and on the list could go.

Isn’t that how life is? A mixture of the beautiful and the marred, the delightful and the imperfect. It seems that the beautiful and the marred are braided together to form the cord of life.

Over the past four months I have come to know in a profound way that God is here with us in the beautiful and the imperfect. In fact, the two seem oddly dependent upon each other. Were it not for the traffic, this place where I am sitting would not exist. Were it not for the pain in my side, I would not have learned to rely on God’s constant presence. Were it not for honest and deliberate interactions, I would not be challenged to grow in my own character and I would not be forced to learn how to speak truth in love. Were it not for a car, I would not be able to see as much of this beautiful country as I have. Were it not for the concern I have for that loved one, I would not be driven to earnest prayer.

Such is the reality of life in this earthly realm; pain is mixed with beauty.

Yet there is a greater and eternal reality that is true of us as children of God: Jesus, the incarnate God, is with us in all the trials and travails of life, and there are things he can only show us in those times of trouble.

Four months ago, on March 12, I began a four month leave of absence from my role at RockPointe. Jesus came to me disguised in my weakness. A number of different circumstances and past experiences, along with the way in which I was carrying a load that was not mine to carry, combined to bring me to the end of myself. I was spent, tired, and very weak. There, in that place, Jesus met me. He began to reveal to me his beauty and the beauty of my life in a way that I would never have experienced without coming to that point. It was difficult, to say the least, but I wouldn’t trade it for anything. From that vantage point, God showed me beautiful things that I would not have seen from any other place.

I know that you have more than a thing or two that mars the beauty of your life. My heart goes out to you. I won’t try to guess what they are or list them here for they are as varied and unique as the ones who carry them. I’m sure that something likely came to mind as you read this little piece. I can say for certain that Jesus is aware of what you are experiencing, he is concerned, and there is something of his beauty that he wants to show you in this situation. No sorrow is hopeless, no pain is wasted, no trial is fruitless when we entrust them to Jesus and agree to meet with him there. I can declare this with certainly because I am utterly convinced that God is loving, kind, and good. It is because of his love that he has chosen to be with us in our trials. It is because of his kindness that he is gentle. It is because of his goodness that he reveals his beauty in our hardship.

My prayer for you this day is that, as you encounter the marred places in your life, you will see that Jesus is fully present and that there are aspects of his beauty and yours that he wants to reveal to you. Take heart.

“To all who morn in Israel, he will give a crown of beauty for ashes, a joyous blessing instead of mourning, festive praise instead of despair.” Isaiah 61:3

It is wonderful to be back!

Pastor Ron