Out of the Ashes

 

To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion,

to give unto them beauty for ashes,

the oil of joy for mourning,

the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness;

that they might be called trees of righteousness,

the planting of the Lord,

that He might be glorified.

                                                  -- Isaiah 61:3

 

A teenager we know was relaxing at one of those picturesque summer bonfires. It was at a rural firepit with a couple of families and lots of other teens.

 

All of a sudden, a swirling wind whipped up a cascade of sparks and flames. She was the closest. Her pants legs caught fire.

 

Two big boys raced to her rescue. They rolled her and put out the fire. But her legs were badly burned.

 

They rushed her to the hospital, where she was stabilized. And then the burn unit people described the long road back: skin grafts, a lot of pain, and a long, boring summer flat on her back.

 

Poof! Her dreams of summer fun were literally up in smoke.

 

It wasn't fair! To be cut out of life, out of the action! What bad timing, too: she was sad and depressed about her parents' recent divorce, and struggling to deal emotionally with the aftermath. Now this! Her situation was as black, dry and ugly as burned-out logs.

 

But you know what? God has a way of kindling sparks of life from dead ashes.

 

She realized how lucky she was to be alive. She now knew that, in an instant, you can die. She realized how very special everything is, especially family.

 

Her relationship with her mother improved drastically. Post-burn care is very hands-on. There was no mistaking the love and concern in every gentle touch - every bandage applied -- every meal tray carried in - every joke and conversational tidbit offered to pass the dreary days.

 

Mother and daughter fell back in love at a stage when many teens are running away and not looking back. It was as if the mother had a chance to heal the daughter from the burns left by divorce. It was nice.

 

During her recovery, she had time to think about how it felt to grow up in an unhappy home, even though she loved both her parents very much. She thought about the things she overheard them say to each other. She thought about the anger and sadness that now pervaded their lives like smoke.

 

That's not how things are supposed to be!

 

But then she realized: her life was in ashes . . .

 

. . . but she didn't have to stay there.

 

So she made some resolutions. She still believed in love. She wanted to get married. She determined to do everything she could to make her marriage a joy and a success.

 

She also decided that her life's work would be to help other people make their marriages come alive and stay alive. How? By becoming a psychologist or a marriage counselor, helping prevent divorce whenever possible, and protect kids from being singed and scarred by it.

 

By the time she could walk again and go out, the idea was firmly in place. There've been bumps in her road. But every time she sees her scars, she remembers that God saved her life for a reason, and assigned her to a special calling. She sees that, in an unexpected way, God was at work in that fire. And now she's on her way.

 

That's the thing about fire. Although it's dangerous and can harm and destroy, fire also does good. It can reveal things, and clean away what's blocking the air and the light.

 

I'm sorry that our young friend got burned. But I marvel how the experience turned out so productively for her. She's going to help a lot of people in her life. I sense God's holy timing and purpose in this. Her future is bright.

 

Beauty for ashes: that's what He offers. That's what He gives.

 

You can get knocked flat by the fires of life that unexpectedly swirl up and burn you. But hold on to hope. You can come up out of the ashes . . . and know where you stand. †