First of all, Joyce Meyer wrote Beauty of Ashes as a move to tell her own tale of healing. If you may ask, Meyer is actually not that much of a stranger when it comes to acquiring negative experiences in life. And whether she liked it or not, these experiences brought her to a place in her heart where healing seems impossible. Having been physically, sexually, and verbally abused for more than 30 years of her life, it was a great step when Meyer found that it was not as impossible as she thought to stand up once more with the help of God.
Beauty for Ashes is mainly written for victims of various types of abuse. In this book, Meyer acknowledges the fact that after their tragedies, most victims will find it really difficult to see their selves as a complete person ever again. But life does not and should not stop there. Meyer then tells her own story and sets of experiences, emphasizing the idea that she too has been through the same painful path. Then she moves to tell how through God, she found herself getting back and picking up where she thought life has stopped.
We may not fully realize it, but we all are a victim. It doesn’t have to be a specific kind of abuse, but we all face adversities in life. And because of the pain that we harbor, we sometimes start to push God out of our lives. We start believing that we are alone, but the truth is we are not. And this is what Meyer would like to share to her readers. It is impossible for us to turn back time and prevent the wrong things from happening to us, but what we can do is to take what we have in the present and rebuild ourselves.
Meyer also talks about “repaying”, or avenging for what the victims have suffered. It is fairly understandable how avenging themselves could be the first thing that occupies the minds of the victims after their experiences. Given the pain they’ve been forced to take, having kind and forgiving thoughts is really hard. But Joyce Meyer says that there is nothing is this world that could ever straighten a wrongdoing, except God alone.
The only person that can talk about sensitive matters such as standing up from having been abused is someone that has the right amount of knowledge on them. You will surely find it somehow sad yet still impressive how Meyer uses her very own story to construct the flow of the book. It was honest, it was painful, but it was beautiful. Beauty for Ashes is a recommended read for everyone who is trying to move on from the pains of the past. Grabbing a copy of Beauty for Ashes is one thing that you can do to teach yourself to heal and move on, whether you were a victim of abuse or not.
Also checkout the Confident Woman book.
