Stronger in the Difficult PlacesSample

Day 3

BEAUTY FROM ASHES

Luke 8:17 says, “Everything that is hidden will become clear, and every secret thing will be made known” (NCV). This verse used to strike fear in my heart as a child and adolescent, and I’m pretty sure that was the purpose of the people who presented it to me. Maybe you’ve had that experience as well. But now I recognize its truth and beauty.

These words confirm that whatever you are ashamed of, whatever you are hiding, won’t stay underground. You might as well dig it up yourself, not to reduce your punishment and certainly not because of any other reason related to guilt or shame but because the truth really does set you free. I want to give you permission to see your shame as a beautiful tool, something to learn from and experi­ence good from.

Hiding our shame damages us. Meeting it frees us.

When Jesus stopped over in a village of Samaria, he met a woman who went to the community well for water at a time of day when she wouldn’t meet “respectable” women. Jesus acknowledged the source of her shame: “You have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband” (John 4:18 NIV). But he also offered her living water to meet the needs of her soul.

In the end, she became an evangelist to the people of the town. She testified, “He told me everything I ever did” (v. 39 NIV) not out of shame but out of wonder and relief. Many became believers in Jesus. That’s beautiful!

Think back to the time before your biggest shame experience happened. Your shame didn’t change who you are. It changed how you see yourself and the world, and that may have altered your behavior, but it didn’t change you. You are still that person. Isaiah 61:3 tells us that Jesus gives people “a crown to replace their ashes, and the oil of gladness to replace their sorrow” (Isaiah 61:3 NCV). You are still beautiful, and you can create beauty—even out of the ashes of your shame.

One day you will experience something beautiful and say, “Oh, there it is. The beauty from my shame.”

If something good were to come out of your shame, what do you imagine that would look like? In what ways are you an even brighter light to others because of your difficult experiences?