Beauty for Ashes

“The hay appeared, and the tender grass shewth itself, and the herbs of the mountains are gathered.” Proverbs 27:25

The beautiful Aspen trail in the Sandia Mountains caught fire one summer while I lived just miles beneath the crest of these majestic trees. I saw the black smoke from a long way off, down in the plains beneath. Black billows soared to the sky while a firey glow of orange could be seen underneath. One of the prettiest terrains was going up in smoke. What was left when it was all said and done was the blackness of charred trees, barren of leaves and life, a moonscape of sorts, just endless sticks of what was once graceful aspens. Now but a memory and even the smell of fire remained in these once pristine woods.

“The hay appeareth, and the tender grass sheweth itself and the herbs of the mountains are gathered”. I read this verse this morning and got to thinking about it’s meaning. “The tender grass appears”. It is spring right now in the woods of Maine. Everything is still brown, trees, forest, and old dried leaves. I’ve walked these roads all winter, and the color pallette is very earthy, dormant, and dull. Suddenly a bright Forsythia appears, seemingly out of nowhere. I marvel at it’s brightness against the barren winterscape around it. It seems a sentinel announcing a new season is upon us. Rejoice! Winter is past.

It’s beauty is unchallenged. Never did yellow look so bright as against the brown backdrop and gray skies of winter’s last weeks. Majestic Forsythia in all her glory. God is faithful. He brings new life.

The tender green grass appears, along a dirty roadway, filled with sand and gravel from the remnants of the snow plow. They bravely shoot up, one couldn’t imagine it a month before. Its coming, new life, new grass, new growth. What was dead for six months is coming back, newer, greener, and all of the earth is beckoning it’s arrival

How often our lives mimic nature. We go through storms, harsh winters, where nothing is left, all seems lost. Only a desolate landscape remains, our cherished hopes brown and charred or removed altogether from some destructive power. We suffer loss in this life, we go through trials, we experience pain, sadness, betrayal, and our world can grow very dark in these times. So dark, we give up, we forget about the Lord. Nor can we imagine renewal, new life, new hope. Yet God says “the hay appeareth”, the tender grass sheweth itself “. God can create beauty from ashes. God can bring new life out of death. Where there is nothing but old dead grass, God can spring forth tender new shoots of green stems. He is God and that is what He does for us. He gives us hope. Because you see, He hadn’t forgotten you! He knows all about it. He loves you. When you think all is lost, there is no hope, look! New grass comes!!

God is not bound by any limitation of time or power, or our own petty rules. He does what He wants…when He wants. Isn’t this wonderful? It should grow our faith. Nothing is beyond His grasp. He holds the world in His hands. He gives beauty for ashes.