Directionally Challenged

…To give them beauty for ashes,
The oil of joy for mourning,
The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness…
~ Isaiah 61:3 NKJV

I’ve always felt directionally challenged. Please don’t tell me to “head North.” Chances are, I don’t have a clue which way you mean. I am, however, visual. If you tell me to go three stoplights and turn left by the McDonald’s, there’s a better chance I’ll find you. But directions aren’t just for finding your way on a map. Directions are necessary for life, which I realized in greater depth after studying Isaiah 61:3.

Ashes: a symbol of mourning, but also represent falsehood and deception

Beauty: an ornament, like a tiara or a crown covered in jewels, and a marker of authority

The oil of joy: oil of gladness, ointment used at banquets; symbol of fruitfulness

Mourning: walking with your head cast down

Garment of praise: clothed by a song of praise or hymn

Spirit of heaviness: a spirit of failing, weakness, a wick burning with a flame almost gone out, a spirit broken down, depression

This scripture is directional. When looking up to heaven, we’re walking boldly, adorned with a crown of beauty and the oil of gladness. But when we look too much in any other direction, we become directionally challenged. We forget we are King’s kids, made in His likeness and image, able to ask for help and better directions when we don’t know the way.

Maybe, like me, you’ve confused your map challenges with being directionally challenged. Maybe you’ve even believed the lie that you’re lost and you don’t know how to find your way. It’s time to dust off the ashes and break the chains of heaviness. We have been given a covering of praise, a jeweled crown, and a marker of authority. It’s there, even now. We’ve been so consumed with “finding the way,” that we’ve forgotten that we walk with the One who IS the Way, the Truth, and the Life. You’re not directionally challenged. In Him, you are found!

©Heather Potts 2017