Where Is My Beauty?

Isaiah 61:1-4

1 The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the broken hearted , to proclaim liberty to the captives , and the opening of the prison to them that are bound ; 2 To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn;3 To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified . 4 And they shall build the old wastes, they shall raise up the former desolations , and they shall repair the waste cities, the desolations of many generations.

(When you hear this passage there is no way that you will not say “AMEN”, and the truth is a lot of us just said amen today, and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that)

Today, all I want to do is just talk, I want to talk and share some thoughts that I have, thoughts that have been going through my mind in the last little while.

This passage and a few other ones in the Bible, pretty much tells us that the Lord will cause a change in our lives, Isaiah 61:3 (KJV) says “to appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord , that he might be glorified.” Message “3 To care for the needs of all who mourn in Zion, give them bouquets of roses instead of ashes, Messages of joy instead of news of doom, a praising heart instead of a languid spirit. Rename them "Oaks of Righteousness" planted by God to display his glory.”

Whenever I read or hear this verse, I get excited because it is a promise, and hey I have in the past even used this passage to preach change and upliftment. I have though, in the past little while thought about this and so many other passages that has promises in the Bible and have been asking questions, questions, questions that you may have also been asking, some of which I will share with you today.

1. Lord, if you will give beauty for ashes why is it that people that serve you with all their heart, time and resources fall sick and have sicknesses that does not seem to go away, some of them terminal, while those that do not even know you or have little or no regards for you are healthy?, IT BOTHERS ME

2. Lord, if you will give beauty for ashes why is it that your children that serve you day and night, who have all the degrees, qualifications, experience are not able to find a jobs and are not selected even when they attend interviews while those that have no regards for you are easily selected?, LORD, WHERE IS MY BEAUTY?

3. Lord, if you will give beauty for ashes why is it that people that serve you true and true and have given their lives to you and are working in your vineyard are still single, and are getting to an old age and still a husband has not surfaced, and those that are married are sometimes not blessed with children years after they are married?, LORD, WHERE IS YOUR BEAUTY?

4. Lord, if you will give beauty for ashes why is it that will your child will go to work one day and are told that they are letting them go even though there are others in that same place of work that do not have any regards for you? LORD, WHERE IS YOUR BEAUTY?

6. Lord, if you will give beauty for ashes why is it that there are those that have given up everything to serve you, but are still despised, abused, insulted, caused to be discouraged by those that do not show respect to you and your work? LORD, WHERE IS YOUR BEAUTY?

But then it occurred to me, the Lord says that He will give unto me, beauty for ashes, and I started to wonder what this means.

Then it occurred to me that ashes come from wood that is burnt not wood that is not burnt. When wood burns in the presence of oxygen, it turns to ashes and has become an entirely different mixture than it was before and the ashes cannot be simply frozen and turned back into wood, it takes on a new state, it is what is called an “irreversible reaction” in science. Then I realize that my beauty will not come until my wood has been completely burnt and until I have become ashes, because it is the ashes that will be turned into beauty, and I begin to rejoice because I know that when I am burnt I have been turned into ashes, I have entered a state of “irreversible reaction”, where the Lord will begin to do His work in me and I will not go back to where and what I was before, then I realize that His beauty for me will come, when all my wood has been burnt, at the end of all my tribulations, and the end of all my trials, after I have been burnt.