Reflecting upon the 3rd Anniversary of the 04-16-07 VT Tragedy and how GOD works to bring beauty from ashes got me thinking about what I would write next. The news of a thick plume of ash coming from Iceland’s Eyjafjallajökull (try to pronounce that 😉 ) Volcano and disrupting flights in Europe and around the world further led me to this subject. The Blog title was sealed when a friend recently reminded me of a song from the 1968 Movie Musical Chitty Chitty Bang Bang: “From the Ashes of Disaster Grow the Roses of Success!” How is it possible for beauty to grow from ashes? How can good come from tragedy?
There is nothing good about tragedy in itself. Tragedy can devastate you and certainly leads to great emotions of grief, sorrow and sadness. When you dwell in that sorrow and sadness too long, depression will naturally follow and then the tragedy will be compounded. When disaster strikes we are stopped from living life the way we normally would. A disaster reorders the particulars in our lives. Disasters force us to learn to survive and live in new ways. Beauty grows from the ashes of disaster when we let the dust settle and then water the ground with the truth. Good comes from tragedy when a person learns to accept the reality of what has happened and not allow the impact of that tragic reality to depress or defeat them in some way. Prevailing takes mental and emotional effort and will not occur naturally.
Philosophically, this comes down to properly understanding why GOD has allowed evil to exist in the first place. This is such an important and foundational subject that I take time to address and discuss this in the opening chapter of the teaching part of my recently released book about the VT Tragedy and my ensuing personal tragedy. Learning the theology of this will help you understand how GOD intends for beauty to grow from ashes. HE intends to and indeed will make “all things work together for good to those who love GOD, to those who are the called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28). Prior to this verse, Romans chapter 8 reveals how GOD subjected the Creation to futility with the greater goal in mind. One day in the future, after GOD’s purposes have been worked out and His people proven true, the LORD will deliver the Creation from the bondage of sin and bring it into the glorious liberty HE originally intended. The question is, “Will you be a part of that prevailing crowd?”
The good news is that our CREATOR—JESUS CHRIST (John 1:1-3; Colossians 1:16-17) has made it possible for us to overcome the trials, troubles and tragedies of life. He gave His life as the sacrifice to pay the penalty of our sins. In Luke 4:18-19, Jesus applied the text of Isaiah 61:1-3 to Himself:
“The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon Me, Because the LORD has anointed Me To preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives, And the opening of the prison to those who are bound; To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, And the day of vengeance of our God; To comfort all who mourn, To console those who mourn in Zion, To give them beauty for ashes, The oil of joy for mourning, 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.”
Friend, GOD would bring beauty from the ashes of the Virginia Tech Tragedy. HE will do this for you in any tragedy you face, if you come to know Him and allow Him to work in your life. He is doing this for me with the perpetual tragedy I have been facing since the Virginia Tech Tragedy. My book and all I am writing is a reflection of this. JESUS CHRIST will help your life bloom and be a sweet smelling fragrance to Him and all those around you. Will you allow Him to help you overcome? Will you allow Him to bring beauty from any ashes in your life?
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