Transformed

Our God is a faithful Creator who "makes all things works for the good of those who love him." (Romans 8:28) As I lingered over those verses a question formed in my heart.

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"Lord," I asked. "Do you really transform despair into beauty? You made that promise when you said you had been sent ". . . to comfort all who mourn and provide for those who grieve in Zion--to bestow a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair." (Isaiah 61:3)

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And suddenly I remembered the ancient pickup truck my husband parked in the back yard outside the kitchen window. He told me and the kids to throw our garbage and discards into it, so he could drive it to the dump. It didn't take us long to fill that old pickup with smashed plastic jugs, rusted pipes and cans, tattered clothes and crushed cardboard. But then that old pick up wouldn't start.

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And so it sat.

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For months, every time I prepared meals or cleaned the kitchen, I'd look out the window and see that dented vehicle with its ton of garbage. I hated the sight--the disorderly ugliness grated my spirit.

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Winter came and one night it snowed. I went into the kitchen to make hot chocolate and someone turned on the porch light. I looked out the window.

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Huge snowflakes drifted down and light reflected off the pick up windows. Ugly cans, frayed sponge rubber, a rusted mattress, all were frosted in an intricate design of white fringed with black.

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It made me want to cry.

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That old, ugly pickup with its mess of garbage had been transformed into beauty.

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I'll never forget that precious picture of God's grace. That long ago night He showed me, in a new way, His power to transform ugly circumstances and situations into beauty.

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Since then I've seen Him do the same for people who've been bruised and scarred. Yes, our faithful Creator has power to bring forth hope and beauty from ashes and despair.

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He's done it before. He can do it again.