A Divine Exchange

“The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is upon me, for the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to comfort the brokenhearted and to proclaim that captives will be released and prisoners will be freed. He has sent me to tell those who mourn that the time of the Lord’s favor has come, and with it, the day of God’s anger against their enemies. To all who mourn in Israel, he will give a crown of beauty for ashes, a joyous blessing instead of mourning, festive praise instead of despair. In their righteousness, they will be like great oaks that the Lord has planted for his own glory.” ~ Isaiah 61:1-3 NLT

These verses point to a great exchange. A beautiful, redemptive re-write of any life story yielded to Christ. Who wouldn’t trade their ashes in exchange for beauty? Who wouldn’t jump at the opportunity to transform their mourning into joyous blessing? To exchange despair for festive praise? Yes please!

The remarkable part of this great exchange is that it is not that God does a massive “select all” and hits “delete” so He can start over writing a new story. No! Gently and lovingly He compassionately rewrites the story; visiting each scene/feeling/room/memory with me He points out His presence, His care, His love, and my perspective shifts as He rewrites my story. He transforms the story of my life from ruin and disgrace to beauty that displays His work as a great oak planted by Him for His glory.

The fact that this transformation takes place not by calling my story rubbish, but by His presence bringing restoration and renewal, is evidence of His redeeming power. The word for “beauty” in Hebrew is phe’er, and the word for “ashes” is epher—simply move one letter and the meaning is transformed! God is able to transform/rewrite our life stories into something beautiful. He takes the details of our lives and works them together for His design - our good and His glory!

Thank You Jesus! My Savior, Redeemer, Master, and Friend!