Out of the Ashes, We Rise

A baby will never take its first breath because a mother chooses to end its life.A teen laughs at the idea of waiting for marriage as an outdated idea.A adult turning their back on the faith of their parents.A family ripped apart by one person’s sin.A heart held captive by the addiction it seeks to keep secret from the world.
These are the ashes we focus on so often as Christians. Those of us trying to live our lives so differently from the rest of the world look around and feel helpless to stop the wrongs around us.

There is a very good reason for that: We are.

Our nation, indeed the whole world, is falling apart around us, just as God said it would. We with Elijah sometimes feel as if we are the only true Christian’s left, looking out on the ashes of true Christianity. We look out at a sea of angry people and want to weep at their misguided cause, the ashes of truth at their feet. We look at the women filing into clinics around the country, and see the ashes of morality.

However, we are focusing on the wrong thing. We were never meant to stare at the ashes. We aren’t supposed to live at the feet of the cross and the death of Christ, we are supposed to rejoice in the empty tomb. We aren’t supposed to sit in the ashes of our own sin, but rise and lift our eyes to something better. We are never supposed to look out at the raging sea, but to the only One who can calm it.

Around us we find the ashes of much we once held dear, but now it is time to rise. It is time not to focus on the fact that abortion is legal, but on the teen down the street that needs someone to show her the love of God. Instead of battling in the capitol buildings about prayer in school, we need to start praying for the teachers, school board, and the children in school. Instead of yelling about the horrible sin, we need to weed it out of our own hearts and help those we know who are struggling with it.

Should we still vote? Oh yes! Should we still cry out in the capital against such horrors? May we never cease to. However, instead of staring at the ashes around us, let us rise.