Think for a moment about your life today and then what Jesus wants to bring to you. You see, Jesus has a vision for your life and it is far greater than any vision we could have for ourselves. Here is that vision:
If you need some good news, He wants to deliver it
If your heart is sad and broken He wants to heal it
If you have an addiction, He wants to free you from it
If you are heartbroken, He wants to bring you joy
If you have made a mess of your life, He wants to make it beautiful again.
If you live in depression or despair, He wants to bring you gladness and joy
This vision for your life is found in Isaiah 61:1-3. “The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion - to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness 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.”
This is God’s vision for your life! This is what He wants for us and what He offers to us. I had a conversation with a friend just recently where he shared how a few years ago he realized what a mess his life was and how he went on a quest to really understand Jesus and the life that He offers. This was someone who grew up in the church and knew Scripture but was not realizing God’s vision for his life. His life, like Isaiah says in verse 3 was a pile of ashes. Yet, now with God’s help, he is seeing God build something new and beautiful in his life. That is God’s vision for us. A crown of beauty instead of a pile of ashes.
This is what Jesus talked about in John 10:10 where He says, "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full." You have have grown up in the church and known God for a long time but may still not be experiencing the fulness of life He offers. Don't settle for the ashes when He wants to give us a crown of beauty. Don't settle for loss when He wants to give us fulness.
CS Lewis put it this way in His book, Mere Christianity:
“Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what He is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on; you knew that those jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised. But presently He starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make any sense. What on earth is He up to? The explanation is that He is building quite a different house from the one you thought of – throwing out a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards. You thought you were being made into a decent little cottage: but He is building a palace. He intends to come and live in it Himself.”
The result is this great word picture where Isaiah says, we will be called “oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor.” Instead of brokenhearted, darkness, mourning and ashes, our lives will look like a magnificent oak of righteousness, planted by God himself in order to display the splendor of what He can and does do in broken and needy people.
The crazy thing is that God’s vision for our lives is better than any vision we could have. He will take your pile of ashes, whatever it is and craft something beautiful from it. From ashes to an oak of righteousness that brings Him glory. I will take that vision any day. All it takes is my willingness to invite Him to transform my life.
Father, I want to be an Oak of Righteousness, planted by you for the display of your splendor. Turn my ashes into a thing of beauty. Amen.
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