“To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that He might be glorified.” Isaiah 61:3
Mourning.
Ashes.
Heaviness.
These are the perfect words to describe how my life felt when my husband was diagnosed with cancer–a cancer that would ultimately take him from us much sooner than we had ever planned.
Mourning the loss of a husband and father who was spirited and dynamic and left a big hole. Sitting in the ashes of future moments we had planned together that now would never be. Feeling the heaviness of life as a widow and single mother.
My grief was great. My tears flowed freely. And yet I was hopeful.
I believed the faithful promises of God–promises to strengthen me (Isaiah 41:10), sustain me (Psalm 3:5), to give me peace (Isaiah 26:3), to comfort me (Psalm 23:4), and to never leave or forsake me (Deuteronomy 31:8). And I had read the promise to the people of Jerusalem contained in Isaiah 61:3–that there would be beauty, joy, and the garment of praise for mourning. I had quoted the verse and sang the words in worship yet had never really considered what they meant.
I’m ashamed to admit I initially viewed this promise in terms of earthly reward. I had the expectation that in light of this verse my life would now be easier because I had suffered such a great loss. I had paid my dues. Perhaps I would be more successful in my career or God would bless me with another life partner and love. Maybe I would experience good health and a long life.
I was badly missing the mark.
I realized that the promise in Isaiah 61 requires an exchange, a trade. God promises to give beauty in place of our ashes, however, for the transaction to work, we first must turn those ashes over to Him and allow Him to do with them as He wills. God calls us to surrender to Him our everything. We cannot hold anything back.
I began to offer my mourning, my ashes, and my heaviness back to God as a sacrifice. I lifted them up to Him with no expectation of what He would do. I simply trusted Him with my broken, open, weary heart.
And that is when I understood this promise more fully.
The beauty, the joy, the garment of praise is not anything this world has to offer–it’s Him. In Luke 4 Jesus proclaims He is the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy–our redemption, our salvation!
And why does He do all of this? Because He loves us, and He delights in us!
Zephaniah 3:17 says, “He will take great delight in you; in His love He will no longer rebuke you but will rejoice over you with singing.”
Our Holy God delights in us. He sings over us!! He loves us so much and wants the best things for us–garments of praise, robes of righteousness–not the filthy rags we would settle for. As CS Lewis says, “We are too easily pleased.”
As we present to Him the ugly, broken pieces of our lives, He fills us with Himself. We find that He is all we long for and all we need, and we worship and praise Him freely from a heart overflowing with His goodness and grace. He produces righteousness in us, so that He is glorified!
Beauty.
Joy.
Praise.
These are the perfect words to describe my life, your life, when submitted in total surrender and offered as a sacrifice–a life of righteousness, lived for God’s glory.
Encouraging words, we are blessed to have a (the only) God who can love us all the time, sometimes when we do not even love ourselves.
Thank you for putting to light the fact that we can turn everything over to Him and expect Him to work in our lives, but it must be everything, all.
Thank you for this message
Thank you, Billy! Yes, surrender ALL. So frightening in our humanness, but if we truly believe God is the I AM, then the thought of what He can do in our surrender should leave us breathless in anticipation!