Out of the Ashes

Letting go.

Hopes. Dreams. Desires.

Letting go.

Releasing tight grip on the things that you want, things you think you want, and things you want but don't even have.

Letting go.

Unclenching your fists and opening your hands. Offering what is there and saying, "I surrender."

Letting go.

Is pain. Is suffering. Is difficult.

Is worth it.

Letting go.

Placing these things on the altar. Lighting them ablaze. Letting His fire consume them.

Reduced to ashes.

Letting go seems final...

And yet...

...Fire refines...


"Out of these ashes...beauty will rise
and we will dance among the ruins
We will see Him with our own eyes
Out of these ashes...beauty will rise
For we know, joy is coming in the morning...
in the morning, beauty will rise"

Letting go allows the chaff and dross to be burned away.

Hopes. Dreams. Desires. They can be reborn. Remade. Recreated.

They may perish. But if they burned to ash, then were they worth it anyway?

But if instead they persist...

...Perhaps they turn to gold. Perhaps they reveal the shine of ruby. Emerald. Diamond...

If they are then cut, pounded, and worked...

...shaped into a crown that can be laid before His feet...

...forged into a useful and beautiful object...

...well, then...

Letting go was worth it.

Out of the ashes.