New Growth from the Ashes Lake Merced Church of Christ

In the book of Isaiah, the people had become those who “call evil good and good evil” and “acquit the guilty but deny justice to the innocent”. So Isaiah was tasked with speaking some difficult truths in Isaiah 6:13 -- that the land “will again be laid waste, but as the oak leave stumps when they are cut down, so the holy seed will be the stump in the land.” The holy seed would be their hope.
Sometimes we get stuck in our pain. When we can’t see beyond this current pain, when we can’t imagine happiness, that’s when we’re stuck looking in the rear view mirror. How often does the Bible tell us to fear not and wait for the Lord? As long as we draw breath, there is hope. Hope is the balm to help soothe our pain.

When we feel like we’re cut down to our stump, remember that the stump is what holds up the rest of the tree; it’s the foundation that feeds the branches and the leaves. All God needs is a stump to create a shoot of new growth, new life, new joys for us. He is the Master of creation, after all. He can bring life out of the ashes.

“When all I can see is doom and gloom, God makes a future where ashes can bloom.”