He gives beauty for ashes, and provides for those who grieve in Zion—
to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes,
the oil of joy 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 61:3
He provides for you when you grieve. He understands your pain. He knows there’s a deep dark place where no one sees and no one truly understands the pain you’re in. Yet He gets down in there with you and doesn’t give you a scripture and a pat on the back – He sits with you and listens. There are places inside of your life where it feels like you’re trapped in a cave and alone. But He’s there with you. And better yet, He knows that place far better than you do, cause He’s been there too.
I will never tire of Romans 8:28 - And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. But what is “the good”? I thought the good meant “good for me”, what “feels good”, what I “THINK” should be good. The desire to have a child is good, right? The desire to be loved is good, right? How about the desire to feel successful – still good, right? These things in and of themselves are not bad. But we’re not working with what YOU think is good, cause you didn’t create you! That’s really hard to understand when we live in a world that tells us “if it feels good, do it”. Good, in the world’s terms, means personal satisfaction, irregardless of motive, outcome or other people.
The bible says A man’s heart plans his way, But the LORD directs his steps. Proverbs 16:9.
And it also says: But doom to you who fight your Maker—
you're a pot at odds with the potter!
Does clay talk back to the potter:
'What are you doing? What clumsy fingers!'
Would a sperm say to a father,
'Who gave you permission to use me to make a baby?'
Or a fetus to a mother,
'Why have you cooped me up in this belly?' (Isaiah 45:9 Message)
It’s pretty clear that you’re not we’re the best “captain” of our lives. We think we’re so smart & have everything in control, when we have no clue. God has the final blueprint of all. If you could just understand that He’s not some “grandpa in the sky” looking to strike you dead like some character from Disney’s Fantasia. His love for you has been for all time. I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with unfailing kindness. (Jeremiah 31:3b.) He HATES to see you in pain from what people and circumstances have done to you. I can’t tell you “why” things happened to you. I can tell you that was not His plan for you. There is a very real enemy who wants to make sure that you hate God. He wants to paint God as someone who cares nothing about you and what you think is “good” – that He’s not on your side. This is farthest from the truth!
I could tell you Bible verses after Bible verses where God speaks to us, wooing us with His love and compassion. But more than that, it’s my prayer that you experience His love for yourself. That you know He is there with you in your pain. He sacrificed so we don’t have to – Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death— even death on a cross! (Philippians 2:6-8). He knows what grief and loss is; He’s looked death in the face. And He’s here for you today.
They call it “Good Friday” because we celebrate His sacrifice, but it definitely didn’t “feel” like a “good” day to Him. 39 lashes, a crown of thorns, a spear in His side, naked, publicly mocked, beaten beyond recognition and died of a broken heart – FOR YOU! FOR YOUR GOOD! There is a greater good. It’s bigger and better than you could ever imagine. Hold on to Jesus in the middle of the storm, He’s there with you in it.
