Isaiah 61:3

The Voice (VOICE)

³ As for those who grieve over Zion,
God has sent me to give them a beautiful crown in exchange for ashes,
To anoint them with gladness instead of sorrow,
    to wrap them in victory, joy, and praise instead of depression and sadness.
(The Amplified Bible reads: “instead of a heavy, burdened, and failing spirit…”)
People will call them magnificent, like great towering trees
standing for what is right.
They stand to the glory of the Eternal
who planted them.

I have spent this last month since my car accident dwelling on what the world has given me, trying to determine the source and the extent of my various maladies. It has become difficult to separate what is new, what is old, and what has been exacerbated by the accident. It has worn down my spirit.

As I lay awake unable to find sleep, the Spirit of the Lord spoke to me – “beauty for ashes” – reminding me of what He gives me. As a child I would make “mud pies” and I can imagine myself standing in front of the throne of God, clothes dirty, lifting up my hands holding a mud pie with mud dripping down through my fingers, unable to receive what he has to offer. I want to open my hands to receive, but the “mud” clings tenaciously. In the world I would have to go wash up in order to receive, but in the Kingdom of God, I just need to let go. I will be “washed by the cleansing of God’s word.” (Ephesians 5:26 NLT)

Lord God,

I let go…

I want what you give. Help me to seek you as my source and not the world. Help me “stand to the glory of the Eternal.”

Your little girl,

Sandy