Beauty from Ashes

At some point we’ve all been there. In that place where nothing went our way. Where things we expected to happen suddenly didn’t. Where people we considered friends became the people we no longer trusted. Where we thought we had all these things mapped out perfectly, but instead hit a dead end. Where in one moment we had an abundance and the next we were lacking and in need. That place of disappointment, uncertainty, anxiety and doubt. It’s not an easy thing to say “I trust God” and “God is good” when our circumstances say otherwise. For so long we’ve been taught to put on a brave face and smile like everything’s okay, when on the inside we feel the weight of our world just caving in.

I’ve had my fair share of these moments in my walk with Christ. Moments of brokenness and straight up confusion. Moments where I couldn’t see past the hurt and pain that life’s circumstances inflicted on me. Reflecting back on these moments, I’ve come to realize that we are always taught to persevere and push through situations. To rebuke the enemy’s plans against us and declare victory over our lives. And while I agree with these declarations and fully trust that God sees us through, I can’t help but feel that we’ve been missing out on something beautiful in the midst of that brokenness. In our moments of desperation and need, we are so quick to beg and plead for our circumstances to change. But we’ve never been taught to embrace our circumstance and be thankful for the storm. We often quote Psalm 46 “Be still and know that I am God”, but we can never truly appreciate being “still” without those trials and tribulations.

What am I trying to say with all of this? For too long we’ve been taught to hide how we truly feel. To mask our disappointments, our failures, our pain and cover it all up with a smile and an “everything is okay”. It’s not to say that we have to walk around like a bunch of sad saps whenever we’re going through a hard time. But what I’m trying to say is: it’s okay. It’s okay to feel like your back is up against the wall. It’s okay to feel lonely. It’s okay to feel helpless. It’s okay to feel anxious. It’s okay to feel hurt. It’s okay to feel angry. It’s okay to feel guilty. It’s okay to feel forgotten. WE ARE ALLOWED TO FEEL ALL OF THESE THINGS. IT’S OKAY! Too often we push away these feelings of hurt, doubt and confusion and sweep them under the rug because we don’t want to acknowledge them or because they’re too painful to deal with. But what we don’t realize is that it’s only a matter of time until that reality rug is lifted and all we find hidden under it is our own brokenness. 

Never discredit how you feel. Feeling anxious, angry, jealous or upset doesn’t make you a bad person or a bad Christian. All these feelings and emotions are what make us beautifully human. In masking how we feel, we’re not allowing ourselves to open up to God and give Him the space to heal us and help us work through our doubts, worries, disappointments and etc. When we acknowledge how we truly feel and lay it all at His feet, we’re inviting Him to heal us, restore us and walk with us in the midst of that storm. Psalm 34:18 tells us “the Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit”. I’ve found that in my moments of brokenness, heartaches, disappointments and doubts are where I’ve felt His comfort the most. It’s been in those moments that He’s strengthened my faith and my trust in Him like never before. In times of brokenness is where He steadies us and helps us build resistance to life’s crazy problems. He provides us the “still” and the calm in the midst of chaos. Learn to appreciate the storms, the struggles, the confusion, the misunderstandings. It’s in those times that you’ll see how God is an expert at making beauty from ashes and joy from sorrow.

The next time you find yourself in a rough spot in life, take a deep breath and remember: God is with you, God cares about you and how you feel, and God is working, even if He’s silent. Invite Him into your situations, your problems, your feelings and He will walk with you, grant you peace and see you through.