Goldsmith

 “…to grant to those who mourn in Zion—

    to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes,

the oil of gladness instead of mourning,

    the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit” (Isaiah 61:3).

Mourn. Self-pity. Resentment. Bitterness. Ashes. Faint spirit.

And sometimes we hold onto them.

We like the attention. We like self-pity.

Anger and resentment gives us a feeling of control when abuse, circumstances, life has stripped us of all control.

We don’t know anything different. It has become our identity. Chains are comfortable.

But how can God make our ashes into a crown of beauty if we hold onto them? How can he give us a garment of praise if we grasp tightly to our faint spirit?

God can meld beauty out of ashes; he wants to take it from us and craft something glorious. But will we hand our pain, our abuse, our hurts, our vengeance desires into his hands? Will we surrender it?

It is here, in this submission and surrender, that real work begins. Crafting, melding, hammering out of beauty, cutting the gems, placing the jewels. Surrender is not a passive acceptance of all that has come to us; it is not saying the evil, abuse, sickness, was okay. Surrender is a placing in his hands to see what God will do with it.

Faith comes actively alongside of surrender—we join with God. Instead of “Why did you allow this???” it is “What are you doing through this God? Instead of participating in the evil by unforgiving, by jealousy, self-pity, resentment, anger, how can I be a tool in you for good, to bring redemption, to bring your kingdom?”

Faith gives hope and strength to surrender—we move forward in the faith that the past does not define us. That the God who is making all things new, who is always doing something new (Isa. 43:18; Rev. 21:5). He, he alone, defines the next moment.

Faith gives glory to the God to whom we surrender—instead of moaning about the pain, instead of cowering to the pain, instead of blaming God for the pain, instead of faith-triumphalistically denying the pain, instead of trying to manipulate God to get rid of pain and the past/present circumstance, faith says God is greater than the pain. God is using this circumstance. God is working for me in this. Faith sees past the pain, to the Great Redeemer. Faith sees that God is the Goldsmith of Ashes, God is the Weaver of Praise from Faint Spirits, God is the Anointing with Gladness from Tears. It is not in spite of the pain, but with the pain itself.

This is our God. This is the God I cling to in pain. This is the God we look to in financial straits, custody battles, sickness, diagnoses, weariness, broken relationships, abuse, shame, and our own sin. He is the Goldsmith of Ashes.