Isn’t it funny how one person can look at something and see one thing while another person looks at the same thing but sees something entirely different. On Thanksgiving Day I looked out my kitchen window as I was putting something in the sink and I looked at the backyard, of course we live on 53 acres so I guess our backyard is a little bigger than a normal backyard. Anyway, as I looked out the window, I saw many trees that have died over the summer from the drought and some that we had chopped up from when we had the tornado in May. I thought to myself, look at all that mess that needs to be cleaned up and the deadness that needs to be removed. Of course about that time, I hear God drop into my spirit, look around and see beyond the deadness, do you not see the life that is laying up just beneath the surface. When I heard this I stopped and realized, that is exactly like our spiritually life.

We look at ourselves and see the destruction all around us. We see where we have fallen short and we see the death of sin but we don’t see where those times in our life can be used for good to help others. Each trial that we go through only serves to build upon a foundation of our salvation. God didn’t call you to be perfect, He called you to be real. So you messed up, who hasn’t? If you will think back over your life I am sure that you will see that God has been walking beside you all the way, even through the tough times. He has called you for such a time as this to reach a generation that only you can reach. God doesn’t make junk so instead of seeing the death that is all around you, look at the beauty that is laying right up underneath the surface. Did God not say that He would give us beauty for ashes?  In Isaiah 61:3 it says, “To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified.” Just remember everything that you have gone through is for a purpose, everything that you will go through is for a purpose. Start digging deep, go and clear out the debris and clear the way for the newness of life that is laying just underneath the surface. He is not done with you, He is just getting started. The question is…will you allow Him to finish the good work that He has started in you or will allow the past to dictate your future.