Quick Thought – Tuesday, July 6, 2021: Beauty For Ashes

Read

…to bestow on them a crown of beauty
instead of ashes,
the oil of joy
instead of mourning…
Isaiah 61:3a

Reflect

My family gets together at my stepfather’s house every year on the weekend of the 4th of July. On Sunday, a family church service is always an important part of our gathering, but this year it took on an even more special importance.

Our message this year centered on God’s faithfulness to us even in the midst of the strangest and perhaps toughest year any of us could remember. This year of COVID-19 brought a host of struggles to all of us, including the trials of separation and isolation. As a part of our reflection we were challenged to think through the past year and think about ways that we had some serious victories even in the face of unexpected challenges. Just among the younger generation, these were some of our victories:

One cousin became part of the National Honor Society.
Another won two citizenship awards and made her high school’s cheerleading team.
Her little brother won his first-even swim meet.
Three graduated – one from high school and two from college.
Another leveled up at her hair salon and rebuilt her entire client list after losing much of it during a quarantine.
Two had a babies – one of the new moms started a home-based business and another was hired by a wedding planning company.
Both of the new dads received raises and/or promotions on their respective jobs.

This is just a sampling (because there were so many good news stories I couldn’t remember them all). And yes, I have a big family. But I’m sure if you took stock of your family, you might find similar stories of victory that were lost in the shuffle of 2020.

The fact is that God didn’t stop working just because a virus circled the globe. He wasn’t thrown off by COVID-19, and He won’t be thrown off by any future circumstance or tragedy. He uses everything – even the garbage of our lives – to make things that are infinitely more beautiful than we could imagine.

Today, think about your 2020 and 2021. What victories have you experienced that might have flown under the radar – maybe even yours? Do a brief life inventory and take a little time to thank and praise the Lord for being faithful in spite of the messes and frustrations.

About Douglas Blaine

Capnpen is a writer who was a newspaper and magazine journalist in a previous life. A college journalism major, he now works as an English teacher, but gets his writing fix by blogging about a variety of topics, including politics, religion, movies and television. When he's not working or blogging, Capnpen spends time with his family, plays a little golf (badly) and loves to learn about virtually anything.

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