Adversity: Bringing beauty from the ashes.

                                Adversity:

           Bringing beauty from the ashes.

Just as the waratah blooms more profusely after the adversity of fire, so too do our lives blossom, after going through the adversity of heartache and tragedy.

God gives us hope, help, peace, healing and freedom. He gives this to His precious and righteous people.

Some see God as a controllable God – if I do this, God will do that, until one realises, we can’t be good enough, can’t be careful enough. Until we realise, we need someone to arbitrate on our behalf.

WAIF: witness, advocate, intercessor, friend. This is the One who arbitrates for us.

We go from cognitive (understanding in our head), to obedience (even if we don’t see the results straight away), to knowledge of God (rooted deeply into our heart), but only if we stick it out in the hard times and not quit.

Calamity is not His plan for us, but because we live in a broken world, we will experience it and this is what brings the ashes into our lives.

Water mixed with ashes, becomes toxic (scientific fact – it causes a chemical reaction called lye, which is caustic). This is why we can’t sit in our ashes and cry. It’s detrimental to our health. God gives us the choice. He won’t over-ride our will to choose. We however, need to choose wisely for our own health, to reduce or remove the toxicity in our lives.

We can choose to sit in the ashes of our life, or we can choose to raise ourselves up and out of those ashes.

Those ashes cause us to be more compassionate. They teach us to forgive ourselves and others, to love ourselves and others. We grow through moments of unease and discouragement, as we learn to better deal with adversity. Ashes are important, in making us who we are, but we aren’t to stay in them.

In our woundedness we hurt others. We pursue healing, so we can heal and once we’ve healed, we can help others heal also.

Suffering is a necessary calling which helps develop in us, who we are destined to be. To move past our suffering, we need to invite Jesus into our pain and sorrow and proclaim the favour of God.

Precious is the man who perseveres during his trial, but sometimes there are parts of our heart that are closed to Jesus. This is why the bible says in Rev 3:20 “Behold I stand at the door and knock.” This is for the believer, so we can open the closed doors in our heart.

Allow God to administer to the jagged edges of the trauma and He will take those jagged edges and smooth them out, easing the pain and hurt in our life.

About the author:

Alexandra Grose – An investigative photojournalist and author for over twenty years. Writing is her passion and her dream and helping others achieve their dreams, through her written work, is Alexandra's greatest aspiration.

#Integrity; truthfulness, honesty and reliability, in all things.

I believe one should....be truthful in everything you say and do. Keep all relationships open and honest. Be reliable, punctual and organised and if you say you'll do it - do it.

If you want to soar like an eagle, make an effort, not an excuse.

alexandragrose@amazon.com