Beauty in the Unlikely Places

“…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.” (Isa. 61:3).

Isaiah reminds us that God’s work often begins in the places we least expect: “Beauty for ashes… joy for mourning… praise for heaviness.” These are not natural or logical exchanges. Ashes are the remnants of what once was. Mourning is the ache of what we’ve lost. Heaviness is the weight we cannot seem to shake. Nothing about these moments feels like the soil where beauty or joy or praise could grow. And yet, this is exactly where God plants His glory.

The miracle of Isaiah 61:3 is not that God improves our circumstances, but that He transforms them. He steps into the ashes, and shapes beauty. He enters our mourning, and pours out joy. He meets us in heaviness, and clothes us with praise. What looks hopeless to us becomes the very ground where His righteousness takes root.

You are not defined by what has burned down, what has broken your heart, or what has weighed you down. You are defined by the Lord who brings life out of loss, and purpose out of pain. You are His planting: intentionally placed, lovingly tended, destined to flourish.

Today, offer Him the ashes, the grief, the heaviness. Watch what He grows from what you thought was gone. How?

Isaiah’s promise finds its ultimate fulfillment in Yeshua/Jesus, the Messiah who stood in a synagogue centuries later, opened this very passage, and declared, “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing” (Lk. 4:21). He is the One who steps into our ashes, because He first stepped into our humanity. He is the One who brings joy out of mourning, because He carried our sorrows to the cross. He is the One who lifts the spirit of heaviness, because He rose in victory, breaking the weight of sin and death.

In Christ, these exchanges are not poetic metaphors, they are living realities. He is the beauty in our ashes. He is the joy in our mourning. He is the praise that rises from heaviness. Glory to His name!

And through Him, we truly become “trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord,” rooted in His grace and flourishing for His glory.

Maranatha. Shalom.