Beautiful Pain

"And he called unto him his disciples, and saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, that this poor widow hath cast more in than all they which have cast into the treasury: For all they did cast in of their abundance, but she of her want did cast in all that she had, even all her living." (Mark 12:43-44 KJV)

Pain is a great teacher.  Good students learn to stay at their desks, to take good notes, for they know that a test will be coming.  They must be ready.  The widow in Mark 12 knew pain.  She knew what it was to lose her husband.  She knew what it was to be poor.  She didn't squander her pain.  She gave out of it.  And not just a little, she 'cast in all that she had, even all her living.' Some would say she was crazy.  Some would say she was a fool.  But faith and love don't play by ordinary rules.  She cast in all that she had trusting in what she couldn't see, believing beyond her circumstance.  

She gave everything.  She poured herself out completely knowing that the One who made her, the One who knew her, would provide for her.  She had learned through her loss.  She had sat under the teaching of pain, and she passed the test with flying colors.  We are not told the outcome of her extravagant giving, but whenever we give out of our want, whenever we give, love, serve, grow, or become more out of our pain the outcome is sure to be more beautiful than we can even know.  

I believe in beautiful pain; pain that opens us up, that causes us to feel and be more deeply, pain that touches on healing and heart.  I believe that if we can surrender to the pain, we will come to see the beauty recreation can bring.  Can all pain be beautiful?  Beauty can be seen in all pain but it depends on what we choose to do with our pain.  In Isaiah 61:3 God said that He would give 'beauty for ashes.'
What are ashes?  Ashes are what is left after something has been burned/destroyed.  So if we take the things that are gone, the things that have died, the things that have been removed by fire and we give them to the Lord, this is where the beauty comes in.  

The word 'for' used here signifies giving.  It doesn't say 'beauty to ashes,' beauty by ashes,' or 'beauty with ashes.'  It's an exchange.  We give our ashes and He in turn gives us beauty.  So what are your ashes?  A relationship gone?  A child gone?  Innocence gone?  A business gone?  Failure?  Rejection?  Abandonment?  Abuse?  We have a choice.  We can continually mourn over our ashes, we can hold onto our ashes, we can spread the ashes throughout our life, we can keep wishing life would spark from the ashes OR we can give them to the Lord and allow Him to give us beauty for them.  We can cast in all that we have, even if all that we have is a pile of ashes.  God is a God of creation and recreation.  He can take nothing and make something beautiful out of it.  I have to look no further than my own life to know that this is true.  I had accumulated enough ashes to make a mountain, and as I have released them, given them to Him, He has and is creating such beauty in my heart and life.  

Cast in all that you have
Hold nothing back 
Some give from abundance
Some give from lack

Cast in all that you have
For nothing is really yours
What we think is less
Is quite often so much more

Cast in all that you have
Pour out a heart so true
Let mercy and grace flow
Through everything you do

Cast in all that you have
Make your purpose known
Stretch beyond your limits
Let beautiful pain guide you home...



Written by Anne Marie Hawke 
February 2020

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