Steven Curtis Chapman wrote this incredible song out of the excruciating pain of losing his beloved daughter, Maria, to a freak accident. It is composed with the verse from Isaiah that I use for this website. I am sure he would be blessed to know how much his words are helping others in various tragedies and heartbreaks. When the phone rings and the caller’s message drops you to your knees; when you turn on the radio and a national tragedy has torn apart a community or a culture; when the doctor stutters the words, “I’m sorry”; when the mind of your loved one is devastated by mental illness; when in any fragile moment, you are rendered helpless and you can find no effective words; God promises in Romans 8:28 He will make all things work together for good. It is in these trying times when our praise is truly a sacrifice, offered through great heartbreak, and honored by Christ. ~Hebrews 13:15 Though it doesn’t feel like it today, and it may not feel like it for a lot of tomorrows, one day beauty will rise and God will be glorified.
To console those who mourn in Zion, To give them beauty for ashes, The oil of joy for mourning, The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; That they may be called trees of righteousness, The planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified. ~Isaiah 61:3
This is a beautiful reminder that at some point “Beauty Will Rise” from everything we perceive as a pile of ashes. “It is our hope and our promise.” ~Steven Curtis Chapman
