“To give beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that we might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified.” Isaiah 61:3

His Beauty

This morning I woke up to worship songs from many years ago in my head. When I was a new believer I had a faith in the LORD that allowed the promises in these songs to carry and keep me. I want this faith again, and my prayer is, “Do it again, Lord”!

In our day-to-day life we run into much tragedy that can overwhelm, distract and captivate our minds from God’s flow and vision of hope. Disappointments and things not going as we had planned, things costing more than we budgeted, and cranky people can trip up our joy and our focus on things above.

And when I say or do the wrong thing and feel as if I’ve disappointed the Lord, I’m entertained in my own pity party… my eyes are on me, not Him. I don’t want to live in this place where my mind is consumed in circumstances and not on things above in the promise of His beauty. This brings me to the crisis of faith of letting go, trusting God with the outcome. He is Sovereign and has complete control. I need to trust this, but it’s not always easy. Yet when I am simply still, His words remind me: “In the world you will have tribulation, but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).

Keeping focused on things above, I remember the promises of beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, and the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness.  I realize these are the things that carry and can change my pity party into a celebration of His life in me.  They also make me able to reach others and attract them to His Kingdom. His peace then consumes and gives “right” perspective, yet it’s always my choice to stay in that peace.

My prayer this morning is, Lord, please keep me on Your journey, allowing You to touch others through me, and remembering this is the reason I live and breathe. This is my desire, Lord, to live as a tree of righteousness, glorifying Jesus, knowing He’ll make beauty of what I see as ashes and I can have that same heart of hope I had as a new believer, resulting in being contagious for His Kingdom.

“In our lives Lord, be glorified!” This is our purpose and this is our joy when we set our minds and hearts on things above, not of this earth. Thank You that Your joy fills our hearts and captivates our minds with Your purpose. Help us to stay in this place today. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.”