notesbynora

There are seasons in life when everything feels like it’s fallen apart — when dreams crumble, relationships break, life doesn’t go the way you hoped, and you look around and see more ashes than beauty. In those moments, it can feel impossible to imagine anything good coming out of the mess.

But God is not intimidated by ashes. He is the One who specializes in restoration.  He is the God who brings beauty from what we thought was ruined forever.

Scripture promises this:  “He will give a crown of beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, and a garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness.” — Isaiah 61:3

This isn’t poetic language — it’s who God is. He rebuilds what was destroyed. He restores what was broken. He redeems what seemed lost.

If you’ve ever walked through a heartbreak, a setback, or a season where everything felt heavy, you know the ache of wondering, “God, can anything good come from this?”

And yet, over and over again, He shows us that our ashes are not the end of the story. Ashes represent what once was. Beauty represents what God can still do.

I’ve lived through seasons where life didn’t look anything like what I prayed for. Times when I felt like I was standing in the ruins of my own expectations — after a divorce, after loss, after disappointment. In those moments, I couldn’t see how God could possibly make something beautiful out of the pieces.

But He did. In His timing. In His wisdom. In His kindness.

God takes the things that were meant to destroy us and uses them to strengthen us. He takes the pain that broke us and turns it into compassion for others. He takes the chapters we thought were over and writes new ones with better endings.

Beauty from ashes doesn’t always happen overnight. Sometimes it takes time — time for healing, time for growth, time for God to shift our perspective. But even when we don’t see it yet, He is working beneath the surface.

Think of Job, whose ashes turned into restoration. Think of Joseph, whose pit became a platform. Think of Ruth, whose grief led her straight into redemption. Think of your own life — the ashes God has already turned into something beautiful.

God doesn’t waste pain. He shapes it. He doesn’t discard broken things. He restores them. He doesn’t leave us in ashes. He lifts us out.

If you’re in a season where all you can see is what fell apart, hold onto hope. Beauty is coming. Redemption is on the horizon. God is already doing a new thing, even if you can’t see it yet. He has a way of surprising us in the most tender and unexpected ways.

Give Him the ashes — the disappointments, the grief, the loss, the hurts — and trust that He will grow something beautiful where it looks impossible.

Because that is who He is. He is the God of transformation. The God of redemption.The God of beauty from ashes.

Prayer

Lord, I bring You the ashes of my life — the broken places, the hurts, the disappointments. Thank You for being the God who restores and redeems. Give me eyes to see the beauty You are creating, even when the process feels slow. I trust You with the rebuilding. Amen.