Ashes to Beauty

“The days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when this city will be rebuilt for me from the Tower of Hananel to the Corner Gate. The measuring line will stretch from there straight to the hill of Gareb and then turn to Goah.  The whole valley where dead bodies and ashes are thrown, and all the terraces out to the Kidron Valley on the east as far as the corner of the Horse Gate, will be holy to the Lord. The city will never again be uprooted or demolished.” [Jeremiah 31:38-40]

When we're in the midst of a tragedy, or overwhelmed by everyday life, or dealing with chronic pain that won't cut us a moment's slack, there is a tendency to not see beyond that moment. I've had weeks where it all seemed piled on: problems with the kids, communication issues with the husband, schedule conflicts that added to all this, and then something (usually little) caused a volcano effect where Mommy blew her top, tears cascaded down like lava, and she needed a time-out. We wait for the One Last Thing to happen, or for the other shoe to drop. When in the middle of such a week, I often wonder, when will it end?

 

In life, there are times when those weeks will ooze out into months, and seasons. We call out to God and wonder what lessons, what joy is to be had? From parents dealing with little ones' major health issues, to mothers who are so very sick themselves trying to take care of their children, to fathers who are working to keep a roof overhead and food on the table -- it can all just seem so daunting. In my house, it seems like the closer I work, through study, prayer and service, to learn more about my Savior Jesus, the more Satan throws curveballs. My son with autism will have a meltdown at school or do something to get suspended. My three-year-old daughter will get a cluster migraine -- a disorder that has been newly diagnosed. Since I will be out of the country for two weeks in October on a mission trip, I have been praying with intensity for a hedge of protection against Satan's curveballs.

 

Once upon a time, I had a season where I wondered how in the world could good come out of the circumstances that overwhelmed me and my family. My beloved church went through a period of change: retired founding pastor, new interim pastor with new ideas, new order of worship, new seating arrangements, new and disturbing thoughts about Jesus, theology and Biblical teaching. My husband and I, usually quiet in the ways of church politics, found ourselves moved by the Spirit to do as John told us: "Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world," [1 John 4:1]. The backlash to this questioning was heart-rending; people we thought were our friends turned, and we found ourselves deep in prayer, discerning what God would have us to do.

 

God led us to leave the church that we had been married in, had all our kids baptized in as babies or young children. God led us to leave the church that we had taught in, served in, and worshipped in. We thought we would never recover from what we perceived as betrayal.

 

During this entire season, my husband and I found ourselves engrossed in God's Word, learning what God says about events such as this. God used this time to build our faith like no time before. Jeremiah wrote, "The whole valley where dead bodies and ashes are thrown, and all the terraces out to the Kidron Valley on the east as far as the corner of the Horse Gate, will be holy to the Lord. The city will never again be uprooted or demolished.” God used this overwhelming time in our lives, filled with dead memories and the ashes of hopes and dreams, to become a most holy time -- a time in which we ministered to the homeless and looked around for a church home; a time in which we looked to God for direction and leadership instead of fallible humans.

 

Then, not by happenstance, but by Godstance, we found ourselves at a new-to-us church, that preached Jesus and Him alone. God took the ashes of the last year and made beauty out of it, and we discovered that you truly don't know what you've been missing until you know what you were missing. That time became holy to the Lord....and I rejoice and praise my Loving, Leading Lord Jesus that the time spent with Him will never be uprooted or demolished.

 

In His Name,

Terrie

 

(c) 2013 Terrie McKee