Exchange

...to give them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they may be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified.  Isaiah 61:3

Recently we travelled on the NZ Transalpine Railway from Christchurch, to Greymouth across the Southern Alps.  We were so blessed with the weather, perfect in every way from (mainly) glorious blue skies to snowing in Arthurs Pass.  When we did the return journey next day, Arthurs Pass was clear of all snow and did not look nearly as pretty. Interesting!

It got me thinking, and this verse in Isaiah 61:3 which was personalised in song by Robert Manzano in 1979 came to mind.  It reminds us that God does indeed exchange our ashes for beauty and can replace mourning with his oil of joy.  But the snow/sun scenes at the mountain pass reminded me that there is a beauty in the 'cold' times that cannot be found in the sunshine.

It has been my experience that often it's in the 'cold' times that I write my best poems because my heart is affected differently by the season I am walking through, and these times certainly cause me to press in to God for his warmth.  The sunshine is lovely and the views glorious but the snow vistas have a beauty unrivalled.

God's desire is that we see every season of life through his eyes and we do that by putting our hope in the Lord, standing on his promises and allowing him, in his time, to exchange our ashes, our mourning, our pain for something much, much better as his purposes are worked out in our life.

Prayer:  Father God, thank you that you can make something beautiful out of every difficult season and event in my life as I yield to you.  I praise you for your love and your faithfulness and I wait for you.  Amen