Is Your Ash Showing? Crosscheck it!
“You remind me of the girl who plays guitar from the movie Sing,” said a friend as I was rushing through the front lobby at church. I so wanted to stop and chat but that possibility was brief at best. The front lobby was packed full of happy people greeting each other. There were so many joyful faces. I, however, was on a mission, trying to avoid conversations and not join them as I was with a girl who was in a crisis moment and not at all ready for a joyful greeting. It was her first time coming and she just wanted to get somewhere quiet and cry. We eventually got to that place but it’s in those moments of interruptions that the Holy Spirit speaks to me the most. It’s been at least three weeks since that encounter and I couldn’t shake that phrase, “you remind me of the girl who plays guitar in the movie Sing”.
The girl in question, her name is Ash and she’s a porcupine. She’s one of the coolest animation characters in the history of animation characters per me. Ash, What a cool name! For my friend to say I reminded her of Ash, well, I can’t say I wasn’t flattered. I love Ash! She’s my favorite character in Sing and I identify with her for sure. Her style, her music, her attitude, her prickles, her struggles, and her triumphs. Even as I write this I’m giggling because the Lord’s reminding me of a moment when I was babysitting way back when I was probably about 13 years old. This little boy named Caleb was standing by my legs and I was about to pick him up. He so innocently said with a voice of astonished discovery, “You’ve got spines”, as he touched my legs with his little fingers. He wasn’t wrong. I hadn’t shaved in a few days and the hair on my body is dark and coarse and something at age 13 I was extremely self-conscious about. So for this little guy to call it out was, well, humiliating. I laughed it off but it’s stuck in my head all these years. Quick side note, the Lord wants me to remind you, often there will be humiliating, painful, or regretful things in our history that He will use as a marker. Something we will remember forever so He can use it to either speak through or use as a catalyst for breakthrough to bring healing to that place and use it for something glorious. Always, to bring glory to His name. So indeed, I do have spines and now I’m proud of it. And actually, I do right now, it’s been 2 days since I shaved my legs so there! Geez, where am I going with this? Back to it.
I spent some time in prayer, back to our original scripture, “I have undertaken to speak to the Lord”, and asked the Lord to show me what else He had for me in this beautiful little porcupine other than my spiny legs. When I ask this question I normally first go to the dictionary. Ash is defined as “the powdery residue left after the burning of a substance” and “the remains of something destroyed.”
I find this fascinating as I think about it. As a follower of Christ, I have to put to death, through the power of the Holy Spirit, every desire, every thought, anything that is in me that is not like Christ. Every day I hope my ash is showing. If my ash is showing then something has died that day that was in me and I have come alive in Christ in a new way. I never want to be the same today as I was yesterday.
We overcome every work of Hell and our flesh by the Blood of the Lamb, the word of our testimony, and by loving not our lives unto death (Revelation 12:11).
Freedom costs a great price. It cost a Father’s son. To live in freedom means we must walk that same road as sons and daughters of the King. We all are responsible to watch, to fight, to go to battle for who God called us to be and for those around us. That is a call to be part of the battle, not spectators of the battle. We should not expect pastors, preachers, leaders, or the prayer team to fight as we watch. We must play an active role and be willing to give up everything.
Jane Hamon said it like this,
“In the United States, our military goes to war but those left home remain in their civilian lives. In modern Israel, every citizen is trained as a soldier. When Israel goes to war, the entire citizenry goes to war. The Ekklesia, the Bride of Christ, needs to develop the mentality that it's not just the intercessors and leaders that fight against the forces of Hell, but each one of us must have a weapon in our hands and know how to watch and pray!”
We must all lay down our lives for the sake of The Kingdom and for the sake of Jesus Christ.
Sacrifices also produce ash. We don’t think often of burnt sacrifices today and what they produced. It was an offering that was given. A sacrifice was made of something special. When that person sacrificed that thing, it was offered to be something holy. That something through burning turned to ash in the process. Sometimes we have to sacrifice something for a breakthrough and freedom to come. One example that comes to mind I walked through years ago with my husband. I gave up a friend, I sacrificed my friendship because I love my husband more. I didn’t understand at the time why I needed to sacrifice this friendship but I did. At that time, it was the hardest thing I had ever gone through. It was as if my closest friend had died. She was gone and although it was heart-wrenching I did it. Through that sacrifice, so many breakthroughs came in ways I could never have expected. Trust grew in me for my husband exponentially and the gifts the Lord had placed in him came to the forefront. I was obedient and did one of the hardest things I’ve ever done and life came out of that sacrifice. So often we don’t understand why God is asking us to lay something down. We don’t need to know why. Just do it. He’s looking for those who trust Him with their entire heart. When has His character ever reflected something different than loving, good, gentle, or faithful? When you know who your Father is and who He isn’t, although it may be extremely difficult, you know and can trust it will be for your good. Put it to death, whatever it is. Let the ash be all that’s left.
One of the other definitions of Ash is “tough elastic wood”. I love it! I couldn’t have made this up. That describes who we are to be. We need to be tough, strong, durable, resilient and fortified but also elastic, flexible, stretchable, moldable, and pliable. All of which we can't be without being fully “in” Christ.
Romans 6:6-8, in The Passion Translation says, “Could it be any clearer that our former identity is now and forever deprived of its power? For we were co-crucified with him to dismantle the stronghold of sin within us, so that we would not continue to live one moment longer submitted to sin’s power. Obviously, a dead person is incapable of sinning. And if we were co-crucified with the Anointed One, we know that we will also share in the fullness of his life.”
Please take some time today and read all of Romans 6 with fresh eyes. Ask the Holy Spirit to give you a deeper revelation of this amazing truth.
Last, let’s go back to the porcupine named Ash. In the beginning, she was being driven by a boyfriend who didn’t believe in her and a producer who saw her potential but wanted her to be someone she was not and she was miserable. She had to come face to face with who she was created to be and let everything else fall away. That’s what made her truly beautiful. She chose to not be driven by opinions around her. Fear of man can be debilitating. She became a shining star because she chose what was planted deep in her heart.
Regardless of the spines we all still bear, we have a call on our lives to be life. Reminder, the only spines that should be shooting out are toward the enemy, not each other. We don’t fight against a flesh and blood enemy (Ephesians 6:12).
I thank God for friends who let me know when my ash isn't showing and I’m being an, um, well you know. Those are true friends. The ones who aren’t scared to tell you when Christ is not evident in you. They know the friendship will remain because even if I’m mad in the moment, I know they love me and want God’s best for me. I don’t want to be an, um, you know. I want to show my ash.
It’s time to Crosscheck It. Crosscheck your life, your struggles, and your pain. Find the marker the Lord wants to touch if you give Him the space and trust Him to do so. This past week, in my own life He put to death a few things I had been gripping hold of that I had to lay down. It wasn’t easy, I had to look in the mirror and allow Him to show me. I had to allow Him to touch those deep parts that are painful to bring out. But, I’d rather feel the gentle touch of my Saviour drawing those things out because I want my ash showing! I want Jesus seen, not Elizabeth.
We can let go of anything the Lord asks so by His Spirit those things are turned to ash.
One song that’s so beautiful that speaks to this is Chris McClarney’s version of “Beauty for Ashes if you get a chance to listen to it.
Take a look in the mirror and ask yourself, “is my ash showing?” He’ll turn them into something beautiful. Crosscheck It!