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Beauty for Ashes

Writer's picture: Tiffani G.Tiffani G.

Hands holding soil with background. Text reads, "Beauty for Ashes: What Does It Mean?" with URL purposefullyclean.com.

“And provide 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


God has promised us beauty for ashes. I always wondered what that fully meant. I thought of it as just an exchange of something good for something bad. Once I sat with the Lord and asked Him about it, I realized that it was so much more than that. 


Beauty for ashes is an exchange, but it is a heartfelt exchange from a loving Father to His child. Years ago it was customary for people to completely change their appearance to show their grief and deep regret. It was a physical display of what their heart and soul was feeling on the inside. They would clothe themselves in sackcloth and ashes and sit outside often wailing their grief. It was a sight to see and it showed all the people passing by that the person clothed in sackcloth was dealing with something very troubling. While we may not do this exact display today, we can still tell when a person is grieving because of the change in their countenance. 


“When Mordecai learned all that had been done, Mordecai tore his clothes and put on sackcloth and ashes, and went out into the midst of the city, and he cried out with a loud and bitter cry.” - Esther 4:1

The Lord giving us beauty for ashes, is the Lord beautifying us and changing our appearance so that we are no longer in the grief that we once sat in. Imagine the Lord picking you up, wiping the tears off of your face, fixing your hair and giving you new clothes- cleaning you up lovingly. This is beauty for ashes. Just like a Mother or Father picking up their sweet child from a fall, and delicately wiping the dirt off of them in comfort.


He wants to wipe away the appearance of what we’ve been through and beautify us again, giving us joy and praise. 


The Lord cares about our happiness. 


I know it may be hard to believe that. It was once hard for me to receive when someone told me before that the Lord wanted me to be happy. I thought, there’s so many other things that are important, surely the Lord is not concerned about my happiness. But He is. He cares about every single part of me and you. Could you ignore someone’s sadness and unhappiness in a conversation, especially when it's in their appearance? No. So why would we think that the Lord overlooks it? Isn’t it Him who is able to search our hearts anyway? He is the one who knows what’s deep inside even when it isn’t showing on our face. 


I say all that to say that the Lord is ready to give you beauty in exchange for ashes. He is ready to bless you and prosper you and cause your joy to be overfilled. He wants you to laugh again and genuinely be happy. Don’t doubt it! Trust Him and surrender all of your troubles over into His hands and let Him give you beauty for ashes.


“The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness; He will quiet you by His love; He will exult over you with loud singing.” - Zephaniah 3:17

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