“To comfort those who mourn in Zion, to give them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness, that they may be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified”. Isaiah 61:3

In the beautiful presence of Jesus we have many blessings. One of the most precious blessings we have in Christ is that He offers us an exchange. We exchange everything about us for everything about Him. One of the most loving exchanges is when he takes our ashes and gives us His beauty!

What do we do with the ashes of our lives? Those ashes of our failure, our mistakes, our terrible decisions, our discouragements, all the bad things that ever happened to us, the consequences of our own disobedience and rebellion, memories that cause us to despair, all the could-haves, should-haves and would-haves, our hurts, sorrows and fears. Jesus tells us to cast all these things upon Him and come to Him so He can exchange these things, these ashes of our lives… for His beauty… His comfort, peace, rest and presence. To us who mourn He wants to give comfort and joy. To those who are heavy laden with the burdens of this life he wants to cover us with the garment of praise. To those who’s lives have been uprooted by storms and winds He wants to plant us securely in His righteousness! What an exchange! Sounds like a good deal to me!

Today, and every day, give Him all the ashes, release them to our Lord and ask help from the Holy Spirit. Today, and every day, let Him shower you with the beauty of His care, presence and love. Let Him embrace you… He will never let you go! In those arms is the place of exchange!