Has someone ever hurt you?
Have you ever been betrayed?
forgotten?
rejected?
cheated on?
abused?

Maybe you could never live up to someone’s expectations,
and it made you feel like junk.

You might feel like a broken down car on the side of the road;
worthless, unwanted, abandoned, not even fit to be sold on eBay.

Life (not to mention people) can make you feel stained, used, and insignificant.
Even the good things in life just feel like a goofy gray fender on an
old, brown, rusted-out El Camino.
It just doesn’t seem to fit.

What do we do?
What do we do when life and the people around us seem to relegate us to the trash heap?

We remember.
We remember the kind of God we serve.

Our God says,
“I’m here to heal the broken hearted, to set the captives free.”
“I’m here to comfort the ones who are in despair.”

And then He says, “I give beauty for ashes.”

Apparently, God is a dealer.
He specializes in trade-ins.
He’ll take your broken-down, beat-up, don’t-really-run-right El Camino
and give you a brand-new, shiny, silver Ford Mustang.

What do you owe Him for it?
Nothing … and everything.

We bring God our junk:
the fear,
the hurt,
the betrayal,
the loneliness,
and the shame.

In return, He gives us Himself:
the peace,
the healing,
the acceptance,
and the love that only flow from Him.

Our God gives beauty for ashes.