Beauty for Ashes

Today, I want to share with you this conversation I had with God. It has always helped me to reset my thinking and focus when I am going through life's struggles and adversities. It has also helped me learn to walk patiently through these hardships with the peace of mind knowing that with Faith and with my eyes set on Jesus--and on the faithfulness of our Father in heaven--God is creating something beautiful with my life, that I will yet see. So I expectantly wait for a better tomorrow. And that time of beauty always comes, sometimes much later than I expected; but it has never failed to show up.

May this conversation with God encourage and bless you today!

Our Conversation Begins

Joy:

"Lord, what do You want to speak to me about today? What do You want to share with me today that is important to Your heart? And where shall we meet today?"

As I am waiting on the Lord, I begin to wonder--Will He want to speak to me about world hunger? Maybe about the suffering people go through in this world?

I started by visualizing myself on a peaceful beach. Lord Jesus and I were sitting next to each other on chairs, looking a calm ocean. It was late afternoon, not yet sunset, and we had the beach all to ourselves. We were enjoying the beautiful colors of the late afternoon clouds in the sky, smelling the ocean breeze, and hearing the ocean sounds and the sounds of the palm trees praising God as the gentle breeze blew. We enjoyed that for a little while.

Holy Spirit Vision:

Then suddenly, we were on a different beach and enjoyed that. Then, suddenly we were sitting on the veranda of a house on a small hill overlooking trees and houses in the valley, and a different ocean in the distance. The view was beautiful. But I was not allowed to look behind me at the ugly side. (I had visited this place in this physical world, in the past, and the house itself was not much--but the view was fabulous!) Then suddenly, we were in the Galilee, in Israel, on a mountain, looking over fields in the valley, and over the Sea of Galilee in the distance. (I had been here as well, in the past.) Again, I was only allowed to look at the most beautiful sides--not at the plain, dull, less attractive sides.

Joy:

"What are you trying to show me, Lord? What does this mean?"

Holy Spirit:

"When you, my child, are facing difficult, ugly situations, I always have places of stunning beauty to alleviate the stress or the pain and to bring moments of hope, joy, and peace to your heart. I want you, who are called by My name, to focus your spiritual eyes on the beauty that is available to you in the Spirit, and not so much on the difficulty of your struggle in the physical world. When you focus only on the ugliness, it becomes difficult to hold on to hope. When there is no beauty around you, I am the beauty in front of you. Set your mind on the beauty of My faithfulness. Since My Spirit lives inside of you, when you focus on Me, I can transport you from beauty to beauty in a second. Suddenly and immediately! When you fix your spirit eyes on Me, you can always be in a place of beauty, inner peace, and joy even in the midst of serious problems."

Joy:

"My Lord, of all the things in the world, is This what is most important for you to tell me right now?" (I was expecting something more important than me focusing on beauty.)

Holy Spirit:

"Yes."

Joy:

"Why? Can you help me see the importance?"

Holy Spirit:

"You are born into an imperfect world of suffering, ugliness, and pain. Most of it is illegal activity in your life coming from the enemy of your soul; meaning, it is not assigned or approved by Me to harm you. This is why Jesus paid the price for your deliverance, healing, and victory over Satan. You have My Word and the power of the Holy Spirit living inside of you to counter any attack of the kingdom of darkness in your life.

But sometimes, I will allow an attack, to succeed only because I have a secret plan that will allow you to experience My miracle power and fill your life with unbelievable joy. No one is exempt. Even Jesus who is the Son of the Living God had to go through this.

Joy, a lifetime of only struggle and hopelessness is Not my plan nor my will for any of my children. Know that any painful situations I allow into your life are but temporary and come with a beautiful side that outweighs every difficulty and challenge you will have to face. So, while weeping may endure for a night, joy will come in the morning. Of this you can be certain.

Hardship and joy are interlaced like two sides of a beautiful area rug. Ugliness is part of this fallen world, but by My grace, I am always releasing beauty into your life. Yet still, you will not see this beauty at once. And you may not see it for a little while because the beauty side is only revealed when the thing that God is developing in you has reached maturity. When I allow something difficult or painful into your life, know that it is only because I have prepared for you a reward of surpassing value and beauty that cannot be acquired any other way. All the sorrows and struggles you have had to endure will pale in comparison. And you will experience victory and great joy in its time when the work in you is complete."

"Consider this, when have you ever gone through a terrible situation that did not eventually end in beauty?"

Joy:

"Never, my Lord, because even in the most hopeless situations, you worked miracles!"

Holy Spirit:

"Exactly. And my miracles only happened after you had determined to stand strong in the midst of the trial and began to look at things from a different perspective. You began to pursue heaven's perspective, be transformed, and then you rose above the situation. And that's when you began to get a glimpse of the beauty that lay ahead. You can only see this when you ascend to look down from a higher place, from Mt. Zion in heaven above. You must be able to rise to the top of this spiritual mountain, to be able to see the pathway to beauty and find peace and joyful hope in the midst of your difficulties. This means that, when going through hardships, you have to station yourself, spiritually, in heaven. Everything you do, do from heaven's perspective, trusting in God's promises that Messiah Jesus secured for you. 

Stationing yourself in heaven means that you are to approach every one of life's hardships always from the position of faith, not fear; and not trusting in your carnal feelings or worldly reasoning but in My word--Trust in My word (Psalm 3:5-6). This way you will always be able to find yourself, spiritually, in a place of beauty, peace, and joy, and you will be able to bring these spiritual blessings into your earthly life by faith. Remember that what is seen is not made out of what is visible (Hebrews 11:3.) Everything is first created in the heavenly realm. Victory is first spiritual and then physical. This understanding is foundational. Make sure you never lose sight of how important this is. I am bringing this up today because I want you to realize how very important this is to you living a victorious life on earth. 

Make sure that stationing yourself in heaven is permanently locked-in as your first course of action, as the way you handle life's challenges and adversities. Do not lose sight of this.

Where ever I have used pain and ugliness to mature my children, there is beauty in the making, on the reverse side, for those who love Me. When you walk in heaven's perspective, you will always walk in victory. 

My plan is to build you up, strengthen you, and establish you for success as you do My will. Fix your eyes on Me, not on the situation, and I will take you to the place of beauty I have prepared for you. I will give you beauty for ashes.

Keeping your eyes focused on Me is the foundation of everything we have done and will do in the future. This is the solution to the world's problems. If human-beings would only fix their eyes on their Creator, who loves them with a Father's love, there would be no hunger, suffering, or wars in the earth. Trauma, pain, fear, worry, selfishness, and greed drives people who harm others. A victim or an observer has to choose what they will become--a perpetrator or a protector. It all depends on what the victim or the observer focuses on--heaven or earth, good or evil, hope or hurt, faith or fear.

I am the only one who can give beauty for ashes, joy for mourning, and a spirit of praise for a spirit of despair. I am the only one who can transform life's situations. I will provide for my grieving children who set their eyes on Me and put their trust in Me. They will first enjoy spiritual beauty, joy, and peace (in spite of their circumstances) and this will open up the portals of heaven for blessing and renewal to be released into their earthly lives. And they will be transformed and become robust oaks of righteousness displaying My splendor (Isaiah 61:1,3)."

End of Conversation

 

 

Powerful Recommended Reading:

1. Suffering and the Heart of God: How Trauma Destroys and Christ Restores by Diane Landberg. Equipping the body of Christ to help people who have suffered through deep trauma.
2. Blindsided by God: Disappointment, Suffering, and the Untamable Goodness of God by Peter Chin. Powerful, personal ways we can understand and even redeem the suffering we all experience in our lives.
3. Torn to Heal: God's Good Purpose in Suffering by Mike Leake. God is radically dedicated to our ongoing growth in spiritual maturity and holiness.