The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me,because the Lord has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners,a to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn,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. (Isaiah 61:1-3)
I almost hate to quote these three verses in Isaiah apart from the remainder of the chapter as all eleven verses are so instructive as well as encouraging.
Mind you, when I set out to develop this article, I had only one verse in mind and a snippet of it at that — “…to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes…” — which is a portion of Isaiah 61:3. The entire word of God is meant for our digestion which means that even a portion of one verse can minister so very powerfully.
Beauty For Ashes
I’ve honed in on “beauty for ashes” portion of the verse for one reason and that was to serve as reminder to me that God sees me differently than how I see myself.
Sure, God has seen my sin and how ugly it was, accurately understanding my depravity in a way that I’ll never be able to fully comprehend at least on this side of eternity. Beyond that, while we humans tend to focus on our shortcomings, blunders, outright disobedience and a host of sinful thoughts and practices, God looks at us differently — He sees us as we will soon be, not as we are.
And that kind of Godly perspective is what every believer must hold onto throughout their lives.
Outer Beauty Fades, Inner Beauty Grows
I’m not talking about exterior beauty which soon fades, but the inner beauty given to us by the power of the Holy Spirit. Indeed, there is a sanctification (cleansing) process that takes place while we’re on this earth which will ultimately bring us to Him looking far different than what we once were.
May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Thessalonians 5:23)
Certainly, we are “beauty in the making” which means that we’re transitioning from something that is wretched, godless and awful to become people who are godly, lovely and beautiful.
Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God; and whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do the things that are pleasing in His sight. (1 John 3:21-22)
Of course, if we’re feeling pretty “ashen” of late there could be sin that needs to be dealt with, so tackle that sin and then walk in the assurance that your heart isn’t condemned and that you are pleasing before God.
For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them. (Ephesians 2:10)
Created For Good Works
Know that God not only sees you differently than how you see yourself, but He wants you to know that he made you and that you were created for good works. Walk out your faith believing that God sees you as a vessel of honor and you’ll be trading your ashes for beauty in no time!
Are we perfect yet? No, we’re a work in progress. But even a work in progress begins to take shape, transforming from an ugly lump of clay into a vessel of honor, worthy of God’s praise.
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But when it comes to sins separating ourselves from fellowship with God, every sin from “great” to “small” can do just that. These days even the word “sin” has been supplanted by “addiction” or even “lifestyle” in a bid for some to explain away or justify certain behavior.
