Beauty From Ashes

This phrase was impressed upon me this morning after reading another blogger's beautiful prose: "Partakers of Grace With Me", written by the wife of our former pastor in Oregon.

As I walked toward my bedroom to have my daily Bible-reading, those three words formed in my mind and took root in my heart.  Then, as I began to read chapter one in the Gospel of Luke, I asked God to show me "beauty from ashes".

Luke 1:8-15(a), 18, 24(a)-25:  "One day Zechariah was serving God in the Temple, for his order was on duty that week.  As was the custom of the priests, he was chosen by lot to enter the sanctuary and burn incense in the Lord's presence.  While the incense was being burned, a great crowd stood outside, praying.  Zechariah was in the sanctuary when an angel of the Lord appeared, standing to the right of the incense altar.  Zechariah was overwhelmed with fear.  But the angel said, 'Don't be afraid, Zechariah!  For God has heard your prayer, and your wife, Elizabeth will bear you a son!  And you are to name him John.  You will have great joy and gladness, and many will rejoice with you at his birth, for he will be great in the eyes of the Lord. . . .  Zechariah said to the angel [in disbelief], 'How can I know this will happen?  I'm an old man now, and my wife is also well along in years.' . . . Soon afterward his wife, Elizabeth became pregnant . . . 'How kind the Lord is! she exclaimed.  He has taken away my disgrace of having no children!' "
 
From the ashes of sadness and disgrace (in that culture), God brought a beloved son who would bring the beauty of joy and gladness into their lives and to those around them.

Luke 1:26-35, 38(a), 46-50
"In the sixth month of Elizabeth's pregnancy God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a village in Galilee, to a virgin named Mary.  She was engaged to be married  . . . Gabriel appeared to her and said, 'Greetings, favored woman!  The Lord is with you!'  Confused and disturbed, Mary tried to think what the angel could mean.  'Don't be frightened, Mary,' the angel told her, 'for God has decided to bless you!  You will become pregnant and have a son, and you are to name him Jesus.  He will be very great and will be called the Son of the Most High.  And the Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David.  And He will reign over Israel forever; His kingdom will never end!'  Mary asked the angel, 'But how can I have a baby?  I am a virgin.'  The angel replied, 'The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.  So the baby born to you will be holy, and He will be called the Son of God.'  Mary responded, 'I am the Lord's servant, and I am willing to accept whatever He wants.'   [Elizabeth said to her] 'You are blessed, because you believed that the Lord would do what He said.'  Mary responded, 'Oh, how I praise the Lord.  How I rejoice in God my Savior!  For He took notice of His lowly servant girl, and now generation after generation will call me blessed.  For He, the Mighty One, is holy, and He has done great things for me.  His mercy goes on from generation to generation, to all who fear Him.' "

When Mary chose to accept God's plan for her life, God brought beauty from "ashes".  From a human viewpoint she would be disgraced as a pregnant and unwed mother, yet God turned her "shame and disgrace" (only as perceived by others) into incredible blessing--as the mother of the Son of God, who came to bless the whole world!

Beauty from ashes . . .  Jesus came to bring beauty from the ashes of human mistakes and failure, from shame and disgrace, from our mess-ups and foolishness.  We have all failed in various ways.  We have all made mistakes and messed up what God originally intended for the people He created.  However, we can all be changed into something beautiful, just as the lowly catepillar is transformed into a lovely butterfly.  But, it must humbly cocoon itself before the transformation will take place.  The result will be a beautiful, brand new existance of freedom and grace.  That's what God wants to do in our lives.  That's why He sent Jesus to earth--to save us from ourselves--our natural state of flawed humanity.  When we invite Him to be in control of our lives, He will bring beauty from ashes.