Beauty Among the Ashes

Good morning, my friend!  Good morning, Father!  

“I would have lost heart, unless I had believed that  I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.  Wait on the Lord; Be of good courage,  And He shall strengthen your heart; Wait, I say, on the Lord!” - Psalm 27:13-14

Father, we thank You that with You all things are possible.  All around us there are financial troubles, poverty, disease, depression, anxiety, divorces, confusion, disappointment, illness, loss, pain and grief.  The list goes on and on.  People are suffering, Father, and are clinging to the last vestiges of hope.  

Lord, I lift up my friend.  You know precisely what weighs on their mind today, and which troubling thoughts strike fear in their heart.  Long seasons of struggle bring with them weariness and discouragement.  I cry out to You on their behalf, Lord.  You are able.  We ask for miracles.  Nothing is too difficult for You.  We ask that You take what the enemy intended for evil and bring something good from it.  

Your Word says, “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze.” - Isaiah 43:2.  In Daniel it says, “He answered and said, “But I see four men unbound, walking in the midst of the fire, and they are not hurt; and the appearance of the fourth is like a son of the gods.” - Daniel 3:25.  Father, be the fourth man in their fire, protecting them in the heat and the flames.  

Today, encourage them to examine their heart and pluck out every seed of doubt or discontentment.  Right there in the heat of the furnace, teach them to plant seeds of gratefulness - that everywhere, in everything and in every season, they might give thanks.  God of peace, sanctify them wholly, that every part of them would be preserved blameless through their day of deliverance, and until That Day (I Thessalonians 5).  Father, insulate them from the fiery furnace.  May they walk through the fire unbound and unburned.  As they exit, may they carry the fragrance of Christ instead of that of smoke.  And then when the worldly things have all been burned away, may their gratefulness remain in glorious bloom.  Give them beauty for ashes, Father!  In Jesus Name ❤️

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