Ashes & Storms

We had some fairly strong storms last night push through the Wabash Valley. My dog was a nervous wreck as the thunder and lightning kept up all night. This morning, we didn't find much damage at hour house, just some outside things that had been moved around by the wind. There were places who had damage and loss of life, far worse storms than we did. I'm always thankful to God for safety and perseverance through the storms.

Now, it's all quiet outside. The winds have died down and the skies have somewhat cleared. And it's Ash Wednesday. I can't help but think how appropriate that is because sometimes, after the storms of life have raged around us, it feels like all we are left with is ashes.

That's part of the message of this day. When everything that we have come to rely on is gone, when all that we thought mattered is reduced to mere ashes, when everything we put our trust in falls apart—what then is left? What matters? Job, you might remember, sat in ashes when his life had been destroyed and his children had been lost. Ashes were, throughout the Bible, a sign of mourning and repentance. Ashes became a sign that when everything else is gone, we have nowhere else to turn except back to God. Ashes remind us that when everything else has failed, God is still there.

Why ashes? Because when we start there, we're reminded how God has this incredible pattern of bringing life out of death. When the storms have destroyed everything we thought mattered, along comes God who takes what's left, our ashes, and brings new life. He causes streams to flow in the desert and plants to bloom in the wilderness. At the end of this season, we will remember that he even took a cross and a grave and used those ashes to bring hope and eternal life. He is not ultimately the God of ashes but of resurrection. He is the one who is Lord over the storm and still Lord in the storms.

We begin with ashes, though, and make a forty-day journey so that, like Jesus in the wilderness, we can be reminded of who we are and whose we are. We begin with ashes that we might end in fire at Pentecost. We begin in the storm so that we might see the bright hope of resurrection.