#TuesdayTruth Jeremiah 31:13, Isaiah 61:3

Jeremiah 31:13

“I will turn their mourning into gladness;

I will give them comfort and joy instead of sorrow.”

Isaiah 61:3

“. . . to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes,

the oil of joy instead of mourning,

and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair.”

I do not know about you, but I feel this in my soul. Our God is a God of restoration- He always has been and He always will be. He restores each of us that calls on His name.

Just recently I was reflecting on my past and some of the really low, low points, came to mind. Now, some of these were fully and admittedly my fault, but others were brought on by actions and circumstances outside of my control. I was quite literally brought to tears as I looked back on those very painful, difficult, times and was now able to see how God had literally turned my mourning into gladness, how He gave me comfort and joy in place of sadness. There were times when I very honestly told God that I did not see any way He could take what I was going through and give me “beauty for my ashes;” that I could not see that I would ever have “gladness” again; that the “mourning” felt so deep and low as though it might go on forever.

However, I am here to tell you:

HE. IS. ABLE. And, only He is able.

Friend, I do not know what this particular phase of your life looks like- if it looks more like mourning or dancing. The thing I do know, with all that is in me, is that our God is a God of restoration. So, if you are in that time of sorrow, please cling to the Father. Talk to Him about exactly what you feel and how you hurt; cry out to Him; read His word to get to know Him better (and to better understand who you truly are); and praise Him, even when you do not feel like it.

No one loves you like our God. He has good plans for you. He will restore you. He loves to fix what is broken and to give hope in place of shame. That is the God we serve.

Heavenly Father,

Thank you for being a God of restoration. Thank you that you are always available to us, that we can come to you and honestly talk to you about our thoughts/feelings/emotions any time we want to. Thank you for your word and thank you that you can fix our broken-ness, heal us of our sorrow, literally turning our sadness into joy.

We love you Father, Amen.