Beauty For Ashes

 People are running around the world in tshirts that say "Life is Good". They've got cute decorations in the house that say "Live. Laugh. Love". Liars. I want a tshirt that says "Life Is Hard", and my fridge magnets should say "Spit In The Face of Adversity" or some such nonsense.

Life is hard. We all make plans that involve waking up in the morning and hoping to have a good day. We don't expect the check engine light to come on (literally OR figuratively). We don't crave the things that come our way in the form of grief, loss, illness, unmet expectations, heartache...

Proverbs 25:4 Take away the dross from the silver,

And there comes out a vessel for the smith;

What is dross? The dictionary tells me it's scum. It's the stuff that floats on the top of molten metal when it's being refined. It's the result of intense heat.

Sometimes the things in life that break us the most drive us closest to the foot of the Cross. Do you feel the heat? You opened a door and there were flames behind it and now you're feeling the blisters form on your hand. It hurts. It's hard. It's not what you ever expected to encounter. But, God is there in the midst of it all waiting for you to turn to him and that turning brings the scum to the surface. He skims it off. He refines you as precious metal and then he pours you into the mold and creates something beautiful. Stunning. Shining. Useful. A vessel fit for a King.