Lodgepole pine cones can stay on the tree for decades. The cones are covered with a resin that keeps them tightly sealed, which means their seeds are locked inside. The cones can not open unless exposed to very high temperatures. It is only in a fire that the cones can open and release the seeds that are patiently waiting to bring new life where destruction has passed through - and it is only the heat of a fire that germinate the seeds. The seeds love the carbon rich soil that the fire leaves behind and the seedlings pop up almost immediately.
Pain. Suffering. Fire.
How can something that destroys be the very thing that brings forth beauty? That births new life? It doesn’t make sense to our human minds, but it is often the way God works in the lives of His children. He doesn’t cause the fire, it’s part of a broken fallen world, but, if we let Him, He can use the fire for our good and for His glory. The seeds of life that are released because of our pain and suffering can proclaim the glory of God like nothing else.
If you are in a season where the fires of life seem to continue to creep closer and closer, I pray that you will stand firm with great anticipation that the Lord will exchange “beauty for ashes.”
Pain. Suffering. Fire.
How can something that destroys be the very thing that brings forth beauty? That births new life? It doesn’t make sense to our human minds, but it is often the way God works in the lives of His children. He doesn’t cause the fire, it’s part of a broken fallen world, but, if we let Him, He can use the fire for our good and for His glory. The seeds of life that are released because of our pain and suffering can proclaim the glory of God like nothing else.
“I am convinced that any suffering we endure is less than nothing compared to the magnitude of glory that is about to be unveiled within us.”
{Romans 8:18}
“All praises belong to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. For He is the Father of tender mercy and the God is endless comfort. He always comes alongside us to comfort is in every suffering so that we can come alongside those who are in any painful trial.”
{2 Corinthians 1:3-4a}
“And then, after your brief suffering, the God of all loving grace, who has called you to share in His eternal glory in Christ, will personally and powerfully restore you and make you stronger then ever. Yes, He will set you firmly in place and build you us.”
{1 Peter 5:10}
If you are in a season where the fires of life seem to continue to creep closer and closer, I pray that you will stand firm with great anticipation that the Lord will exchange “beauty for ashes.”
