Have you ever felt so broken, that you wondered how God could even give you beauty for ashes?
The woman held up the $20 bill for the entire Bible study class to see.
“How much is this worth?” She asked.
The voices of the women rang out together “$20.”
Then the woman who held the $20 bill crumpled it up, threw it down on the ground and stomped on it. She picked it up and said, “Now, how much is this worth?”
The voices ring out again. “$20.”
Then this woman said, “No matter what you’ve been through, no matter how you’ve been crushed, stomped on and thrown away in this life, it does not make you less than.”
You Have Worth and Value
This is what I want to talk about today, is that so many times when we have been through tough things, when we’ve been through abuse, when we’ve been through things that have just broken our hearts, we often feel inferior. We often feel less than, we’ve been treated as less than.
And I just want to talk about today, that you still have worth, you still have value, and God can give you beauty for ashes.
- You Have Worth and Value
- You are still precious to God.
- You are God’s precious daughter.
- He created you to walk this earth.
- He delights in you.
- He chose you to be his daughter.
- He has got good plans for you.
And no matter what this world or the devil has done to you to steal your self-image, to try to destroy your self-worth, it does not change your worth in God’s eyes.
God Is Dressing You Up
I had a man pray over me once saying, “God is gonna dress you up and put a crown on your head and earrings in your ears.”
And another man who prayed over me said, “God, you’re doing a golden needle work in her heart.”
And this is at the same time that I would go into my bedroom after being out for the day, and I would just sit down and I would just cry.
The pain was so much, I let the tears out, I could not even give words to my pain, but I could do nothing but sob and cry before Jesus.
And every day that I cried before Him, He comforted me a little bit more. He encouraged me a little bit more, until one day I was able to get back up.
And another day I walked in a little bit more confidence.
Day after day, I brought my pain to Jesus and day after day, He did a work in me. He gave me beauty for ashes.
And so, at the time when I was just sitting there and crying and in so much pain and heartache and wondering if I would ever be whole, it was interesting to me that people would pray over me about God dressing me up and doing a golden needlework in my heart and putting earrings in my ears and a crown upon my head.
As you sit and you cry and you let those things out, the Lord does a work in you, and He dresses you up.
Isaiah 61:3
Isaiah 61:3 in the new king James version, it says, to console those who mourn in Zion to give them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourn 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.
So sister, when you are in that place of mourning, when you are crying out to God and asking Him, why am I in so much pain?
When you are giving Him your tears, your heartache, your pain, when you’re surrendering it to Him, when you are in that place where you can only cry, you don’t even have words…He is giving you,
- Beauty for ashes,
- The oil of joy for mourning,
- A garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness.
Beauty for Ashes
So to me, when I was in that place of just mourning and crying and wondering, and people were praying over me about Him giving me a new dress and dressing me up, that is the place where He was exchanging my mourning, my crying for this garment of praise, He was giving me the garment of praise, instead of the spirit of heaviness.
And that may happen over a period of time. For me, it was several years, but sister,
if you keep going,
if you do not quit,
if you keep bringing your tears to God,
He will do a work in you.
You Are Not an Orphan
So many times, when we’ve been through things like this, we don’t see ourselves as being dressed up in beautiful dresses.
We see ourselves in ashes, we see ourselves as an orphan, someone who has been left to fend for themselves.
Our daddy God wants to show you dear sister, that you are His precious daughter, that what has happened to you has not stolen your worth and value.
You are still precious in God’s eyes.
You are not less than anyone else who hasn’t gone through what you’ve been through.
You are of great worth to the king of all Kings and Lord of all Lords.
And He is greater than anyone on this earth.
So, anyone who’s hated you, or tried to define you by what you’ve been through or abused you or judged you by your brokenness…
Oh, I went through that a lot.
People judged me by my brokenness a lot. I felt like they thought Christians were supposed to be joyful and happy, and speaking of blessings all the time, and here I was crying my heart out and talking of the brokenness I felt.
It didn’t line up with what they thought Christians were supposed to be. So, yes, I have been judged by my brokenness, but dear sister, it is God who defines you.
No one else on this earth defines you.
An Invitation
So today, I invite you to come to Jesus and surrender your hurts, your wounds and the heartache to the Lord, to invite Him into heal.
Let yourself cry before Him.
Let the feelings out.
And as you do, ask Him to comfort you, to encourage you and to help you get back up once again.
Some Things You Can Do
And when you read your Bible and you come across verses about who God says you are, or that comfort your heart, write them down, write them down and look at them on a regular basis.
Commit them to memory.
Keep them in your eyes. Keep them in a place where you can see them often go through them in the morning, keep those verses near your heart, because this will also help you to heal.
Zephaniah 3:17
And I’d like to leave you with this verse.
Zephaniah 3:17 in the new king James version says, the Lord, your God, in your midst, the mighty one will save. He will rejoice over you with gladness. He will quiet you with his love. He will rejoice over you with singing.
Can I pray for you today?
Father God, I pray for my sister in Christ, that You would bring her to a place of wholeness. Bring her to a place of healing.
Lord, as she sits before you and surrenders her pain and meditates on verses about who you say she is, I pray that You would reach down and do that golden needle work in her heart father. I pray that in the Spirit you would do a surgery on her heart.
I pray that You would undo the ungodly things that have been done to her, You would undo the hateful things that have been done to her, undo the effects the abuse that she’s walked through has done to her, the wrong words, the ill treatment.
Oh, Father. I pray for her heart, that You would go in and you would do a mighty work and that you would cleanse away the things that this world and the devil put upon her in the name of Jesus.
I pray for her healing to come forth in the name of Jesus.
I pray father that You would restore to my sister in Christ, her sense of worth and value. Give her great beauty for ashes.
Restore to her, her dignity, her self-respect and give her a strong sense of your love for her, help her to know that she is a precious daughter of the King.
And as she is mourning these losses, as she is crying out to You, as she’s surrendering the pain to you, where she feels just raw and broken, help her to know Father, that you are exchanging pain for a garment of praise, You are giving her beauty for ashes. You are bringing her to a place of wholeness.
And if she does not give up, Father, she will come into it.
Father, give her courage to keep going. Despite the pain, despite the tears, help her to know that You are bringing healing and hope to her, in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
Go Deeper
If you would like to go deeper into this topic, check out my book, Lord, Heal My Heart.
