Recently, God impressed upon me how many people feel like their lives are in ashes. Charred remains of broken dreams, relationships, jobs, health. But, “Ashes were never meant to be the end of the story. What remains after the fire … is not wreckage in God’s hands. It is raw material.” — Travel The Road, June 2026 newsletter [emphasis, mine]
Humanly speaking, ashes connote that whatever existed is completely spent. Useless. Finished.
The world slaps “finished” on people as an identity. My friends, don’t buy that lie.
We may be down, but we aren’t finished.
“Down” is a position—not an identity. Down implies you can still get up. You can rise.
A case in point is Micah, prophesying to a devastated nation in Chaldean captivity: “Do not gloat over me, my enemy! Though I have fallen, I will rise; though I sit in darkness, the Lord will be my light.” — Micah 7:8 (NIV)
I will rise.
Micah refers to Nebuchadnezzar burning Jerusalem and mass deporting the Jews. But the prophet confidently says Neb’s wreckage is raw material in God’s hands. By His power, God will preserve Israel’s remnant and enable them to rise again (which He did).
He does the same for us.
We may not think it can happen. We have no idea how it can happen.
It’s easier to bury our dreams in our ashes than to make room for hope. It’s easy to stay on the ground when life says we’re down for the count.
Shame and despair require no effort. Handing our ashes to God does.
The only two things God says He’s finished are His creation and Christ’s atoning death on the Cross.
My friend, you are never “finished” until you get to heaven. God may change your dreams, but He never wants you down for the count. He wants you to RISE.
Decades ago, I was in physical therapy for an extended time, hoping it would mend what other modalities had failed to do. A prominent sign at the front desk read, “We will find a way, or we will make a way.” Seeing that encouragement before every session made me work harder to rise above my pain and limitations.
As great as that saying was, God does more than that for us. All. The. Time.
He makes a way where there is none. He does more than mend. He redeems, restores, and resurrects your life—first by salvation through Christ and daily by His grace in your life.
In the 2026 movie A Great Awakening, George Whitefield borrows from Paul’s words to the Ephesians in saying, “Arise, O sleeper. Awaken!” The word “arise” is notable because it has two meanings—to get up from a lying or sitting position, and to start to exist.
God calls us to both.
Only God can call something into existence that’s not already there. So when He says RISE, He’s saying, “Get up! I’m about to do something new in you.”
Unfortunately, society (and the Church) have taught us to be comfortable in managing defeat. It’s easier to hear we’re broken than to hear “get up.”
I’m not talking about pull-yourself-up-by-the-bootstraps existential philosophy. RISE is God’s missive for you to reach beyond your present and respond to His call—trusting that affliction is more than a painful season and that God will make something new and good rise from it.
History rings with Jesus calling people to rise from their most desperate circumstances. A life of shame. Bondage. Paralysis. Blindness. Even death.
What He said to them, He says to us today: “I didn’t create you to stay down. I created you to rise.”
You won’t know what lies on the other side of that until you take a step of faith to rise. Bu it won’t be by your own effort. Your obedience will unleash God’s power that enables you to rise.
Praise God that He’s not limited to working with only the good material of our life! He lovingly scoops up our ashes and writes our next chapter with them.
So RISE.
Almighty God, thank you that you love me enough to not leave me face down in the dirt. I praise you for having greater plans than I can comprehend. Turn my pain into purpose. You alone have the final say in my life. I open my hands to receive that today. In the power of your Name, amen.
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