Rise Above Your Ashes

Rise above your ashes, no matter where they may fall.

Rise above your ashes, don’t panic or your destiny will surely be stalled.

Rise above your ashes, and tap into your well deep down inside.

Rise above your ashes, and kiss your misery good-bye!

© Arnita L. Fields 2009

     As the seasons began to change and we enter into the last quarter of 2009, many of us will find ourselves once again in a mode of self reflection as we assess how the events and changes in the first three quarters of this year have affected our lives. If you are still dealing with the effects of a loss you have faced, I would like to take a few moments to offer you a word of encouragement which is taken right out of the word of God.

     You may have lost your home; car, a job, furniture, family or friends and some of you may even have lost your faith. But despite what you may have lost, you can and are well able to recover those things that God has preordained for you to have. If you are serious about reclaiming what you have lost, you are going to have to become a willing participant in your own recovery process.

     Let’s go now to the word of God in 1 Samuel 30:1-8 and take a look at David and how he was able to rise above his ashes and recover that which belonged to him. In verse 1 we see where the Amalekites had invaded Ziklag and burned it with fire, but as we come to verse 4 we began to see how David responded in his trial. (4) “Then David and the people who were with him lifted up their voices and wept, until they had no more power to weep. (6) Then David was greatly distressed for the people spoke of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and his daughters. But David strengthened himself in the Lord his God.” (NKJV)

     Do you see that it was okay when you cried about your loss? But after you have cried and released your tears, you must come to a point where you will have to get up from your ash heap and begin to tap down into your spirit and make a divine connection with your Heavenly Father. The attitude that you take when you are in the midst of a fiery trial is key as to how well you will respond back to God. If you have previously been building yourself up in your most holy faith, you will be able to pull up whatever it is that you need to come out of your situation victorious. David had the right attitude towards God when he approached the throne of grace. He knew that the wisdom he needed to pass his test was not wrapped up in the people around him, but in his own personal relationship with God.

     Now let’s go back and see what David did in the following verse, (8) “So David inquired of the Lord, saying shall I pursue this troop? Shall I overtake them? And He answered him, “Pursue, for you shall surely overtake them and without fail recover all.” (NKJV) When David made his divine connection with God; he was able to receive the wisdom he needed to move forward in his recovery process.

     Have you taken what you have been struggling and dealing with to God? Are you willing to take part in your own recovery process? Or are you just looking for someone else to come and bail you out of all of your troubles? You may say that you are not like David and you don’t have his faith or even his strength, but the word of God says that you do have the same divine connection that he had, and that’s a direct line to the heart of God. We serve a God who never sleeps and never slumbers. He is a God who is not a respecter of persons, and He is a wise loving Father who hears the cry of His children. Your ashes are not meant for you to sit in forever; they are only there to help propel you to your next level and place in God. So my dear sister and brother I say to you right now, arise and dust yourself off; and immediately consult God for His divine wisdom and direction so that you too; can move forward into your divine destiny and purpose.