Out of ashes

In that day I will restore the fallen kingdom of David. It is now like a house in ruins, but I will rebuild its walls and restore its former glory. Amos 9:11

Did you notice the reference? I can’t see those numbers together without thinking of the attacks on America in 2001. It was a terrible day, full of dust and ashes, fear and calamity. I will never forget it.

But it wasn’t the only earthshaking day I’ve experienced. The others weren’t broadcast on the news, but they were momentous and far-reaching. Maybe you’ve had a day like that, when the call came and the news broke over you and the ground fell out from under your feet.

I am so very, very sorry.

We are never prepared for tragedy. The world shifts, our place in it changes, and we become strangers to ourselves navigating an altered landscape.

But calamity does not mean that God doesn’t love us (Romans 8:35-37). Even in the midst of destruction, when things are literally crumbling to devastating ruin, God holds out a promise of restoration and rebuilding. He offers hope that He will renew His people and restore their shattered world.

He heals the brokenhearted, binding up their wounds. Psalm 147:3

Really isn’t this the work He’s been doing since from the beginning? Taking dust and making it into something magnificent? “The Lord God formed a man’s body from the dust of the ground and breathed into it the breath of life. And the man became a living person” (Genesis 2:7). Breathing life into dust and ashes is the work He continues to do in every heart that welcomes Him (2 Corinthians 5:17).

Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed, says the Lord, who has compassion on you. Afflicted city, lashed by storms and not comforted, I will rebuild you on a foundation of sapphires and make the walls of your houses from precious jewels. Isaiah 54:10-11, emphasis added

What God builds from the ashes is created of the finest materials by the Master craftsman. It’s priceless, beyond compare, and stunningly beautiful. His work cannot be destroyed and it cannot be shaken. He will not abandon the effort or leave it unfinished.

Oh storm battered city, oh house in ruins, you will be rebuilt and you will be glorious.