Oaks of Righteousness

You know that feeling of letting go – of taking in an enormous gulp of air, and just exhaling it with an audible sigh? The lightness of removing old feelings and painful memories layer-by-layer? Today I watched many of those ugly places burn. My son saw the tears stream down my face as I opened the Rubbermaid bin – the bin of places I’ve been, things that have been taken from me, ways I’ve been manipulated, rejected, and abandoned – I read through the way the story unfolded as I took out each item one-by-one. I remembered how I didn’t choose this set of circumstances, and how painful it is to see the best in people who ultimate desire to steal your joy and strip you down to bone. My son, with glossy eyes, patted my back gently – ‘It’s ok, Mom, you don’t have to look at it if it makes you sad.’ But I knew that healing comes when we face those ugly places – when we don’t let the fear of the places we’ve failed, or those who have failed us get in the way of God’s divine purpose in our lives, when we don’t let the devil tell us these places define us, or let our sufferings dim our spirit or trample our today’s.

And so I made a pile of these places, and watched them burn – smolder into fiery ash. I watched the contents of this Rubbermaid bin cease to exist – piece-by-piece. Knowing that as each item burned, so did its hold on me. I know that God allows us to heal when we let go of the power these places of suffering have on us.  When we’re able to see that God has a bigger purpose for our suffering – He will use the ashes of our most intimate and painful places to fertilize the soil of our hearts. He has transformation in mind. He wants us to see that the ash is the beginning of something immensely more beautiful than anything the pain took from us.

‘…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 61:3|

Maybe you don’t have a physical bin, but instead, these painful places are tucked away in the archives of your mind – too painful to confront. So you keep shoving them into crevasses and dark corners with hopes they will fade away.

I’m telling you – Jesus wants to gently hold your hand as you piece-by-piece declare that these ugly places will no longer have a hold on you, that you will remain victorious over the devil’s schemes to convince you that you’ll never rise above this. Because, the truth is – the Lord has plans to use these ashes for the display of His splendor, and to ultimately give you the oil of gladness and a garment of praise.

I hope and pray that each of us has the courage – in the power of His Spirit – to burn these parts of our past, and cling to His promises for today – because you are worthy, and you are loved.

xoxo