Beauty from Ashes

This week I am the guest blogger for The Welcome Table blog. This is a wonderful site with spiritual resources for the whole family. Please take a few minutes to visit them and see the entire guest blog post!

Consider how the richest, most life-giving soil is sometimes created by that which has been thrown away and discarded. 

The gardener knows how to turn garbage into compost. Therefore our anger, sadness, and fear is the best compost for our compassion. 
– Kayla Mueller

Isaiah 61:3
 (I will) bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes. 

I love to compost. I have a bin out by our shed and for the last several years I have been dumping in my coffee grounds, eggshells, and fruit and vegetable peelings. I add some grass clippings and ashes from my burn pile, turn it every week, sprinkle in some water and voila – like magic, it turns into rich, loamy soil.

With the spring planting season here, I’ve been digging way down into the bin to pull up the beautiful “black gold” at the bottom. I mix it with potting soil as I plant geraniums and tomatoes. I know that the compost will feed my plants and make them grow full and lush.

As I was turning the mixture with my shovel the other day, this verse from Isaiah kept going through my mind: “(I will) bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes.” 

Isaiah tells the Israelites in chapter 61 that the Holy Spirit is on him, directing him to proclaim good news to the poor, to bind up the brokenhearted, to send freedom for the captives and release for the prisoners. He promises that the coming Redeemer will take away the ashes that people put on their heads while mourning, and replace them with a beautiful crown. Jesus later claimed these verses for himself in Luke 4:21.

Just as my stinky trash transforms into a life-giving substance, God can take the ashes of my life – the broken and painful parts that I would like to throw out – and change them into something meaningful and life-affirming.

I don’t understand the science behind composting, and I don’t understand how God uses the messes in my life for good. But here are a few observations:

First, like composting, changing our hearts takes time.      

Turning the scraps that I throw into my compost bin into fertile soil doesn’t happen overnight. It may take several months or even a year.

The same is true of the hurt parts of myself that I give to God. Initially, not much seems to change. I want to feel better immediately, and sometimes God does give me peace, but more often the process of healing takes time and patience. If I persevere, I can begin to feel a difference in my heart. The sharp and painful edges become worn down like rocks tumbling in a stream until I no longer feel the pain in the same way.

Second, the compost pile sometimes needs extra help, and so do I.

This spring I ordered worms online – yes, you can get a box of worms in the mail. They were all balled up and squiggly, and I dumped them into the bin and told them to get to work. Their job is to eat their way through the worm caviar. As they do so, they help break down the plant material.

I also need help in working through my emotions. In addition to prayer, I read my Bible and devotional materials. I also need to share with trusted friends or counselors who can give me a different perspective. Just as the worms in my bin speed up the process, God works through others to get me to the place I need to be.  

Finally, the good compost is buried deep down in the bin, waiting to be pulled out and used to feed my plants. In the same way, we sometimes must go deep down within ourselves to get to the good stuff that God can use.

He’s the one who comforts us in all our trouble so that we can comfort other people who are in every kind of trouble. We offer the same comfort that we ourselves received from God.  2 Corinthians 1:4

When we have gone through difficult times, we understand what others are experiencing in a unique way. From our own perspective we are able to offer comfort that goes beyond platitudes. Our hurts turn from ashes to beauty, as part of God’s cycle.

Composting and gardening have been such wonderful teachers of God’s grace for me in this season. They’ve helped show the patience, the humility, the breaking down, and the building up that God sometimes requires to cultivate life within myself and, in turn, those around me. They’ve been living metaphors for how even the “stinkiest” parts of myself aren’t without their purpose, aren’t beyond God’s ability to use. 

May we all adopt this grace for ourselves. May we remember that beauty can be born from our ashes, though it might take a little time, and maybe even a few worms.