Isaiah 61:3

Isaiah 61:3 says in part:

To give beauty for ashes,

The oil of joy for mourning,

The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness;

This is God’s promise to me.

Actually it’s God’s promise to everyone who turns to Him in full surrender and humility. As a good friend pointed out to me, the bad things that happen in our lives are not God’s will they are the byproduct of living in a fallen world.

When these things happen to us they are no more God’s will for us than the falling rain is God making us cold and wet. It is simply the earthly life just happening.

This passage from Isaiah is God’s promise to us that He will turn life’s ashes into beauty. That He will anoint us with the oil of His joy when we mourn and that all we have to do is put on the “garment of praise” toward God for Him to lift that “spirit of heaviness” that is causing us so much pain and distress.

Most of the time I write this in the first person and limit myself to how the scripture leads and supports me. I don’t believe that I am a good enough Christian to “preach” to anyone and am just struggling to live close enough to God myself.

In this case I just wanted to remind you, my readers, that God will carry you through the worst of times and that if you simply invite him into your life he will help you find the resources to deal with any problem.

The resources within yourself that He as already given you but your pain, anguish and fear are keeping hidden from you.