Brenda Strachan, Author at Your Ashes for His Beauty

Building Beauty Out of Ashes

Brenda Strachan — Wed, 15 Nov 2023 04:23:55 +0000

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.” NKJV

On December 30th, 2022, I released my book “Building Beauty Out of Ashes.” I wanted to share a little about the book. A few years before I began writing, God kept nudging me to write what I was my inner healing experiences from my journal entries. I had already had my blog site up and running. After a few months of blogging, I got complacent and stopped blogging. I just kept writing in my journals and stopped there. I started to learn a lot about myself, and God had shown me a lot about my journey of inner healing after the divorce. Many of us know that God will always use our pain and brokenness to bring healing and glory to His name when we share what God did amid our pain. As I would share my knowledge of what I went through during my divorce and how I was healing, I would be encouraged by many to write a book. I took it as an Okay God, I hear you.

I struggled a bit with the thought that I would have to share intimate details about my life, my marriage, and the divorce. A part of me did not want to. I felt shame about what happened, and I honestly did not want people to know what happened during my divorce. I fought the idea of writing the book for months. But, if God calls you to it, you better obey. I said, “Okay, God, but you need to help me because this will not be easy!” I researched and found a book coach and publisher whom God put in my path. I began to write. God helped me to understand that the book was to be written to help anyone who is facing what I faced. My journey of inner healing was to shed light on what God can do when we allow Him to rebuild us after we have faced betrayal, divorce, and emotional trauma. Even if just one person reads the book and helps them heal and understand their journey, it accomplished what it was meant to do. Which is to glorify God.

In writing the book it helped me to still heal in areas I was still struggling. In those moments of sharing my pain, God met me and helped me to write as He comforted me. Many times, I would write with tears coming down my face as I released the pain of all the hurt. I could also feel God’s love encourage me to keep going. Building Beauty out of Ashes is about God revealing to me the deep wounds I carried that steamed from childhood up to the divorce with my husband. God wanted me to share how healing can come even when we face betrayal from those we love. I share my journey of finding inner healing in God’s word. God wants to restore all of us and rebuild us by removing all that hurts us deeply. God is faithful and will replace our ashes with His beauty which is His unconditional love for us. We all have a story to tell, a testimony to share and a book to write.

If you are interested in grabbing a copy of my book, it is available for purchase on Amazon. Click link below.

https://a.co/d/bBfrvMo

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Let It Go Before It Destroys You

Brenda Strachan — Wed, 13 Oct 2021 05:07:24 +0000

“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” John 10:10 KJV

If your like me and love to watch all kinds of different movies than hopefully you will understand how I ended up watching this movie. Before I get into the movie and the details of it, I would like to first ask you a question?

How hard has it been for you to let go of something that was hurting you so much? Would you say it’s been easy to let go of something that caused you great pain, such as betrayal, divorce, or abuse? What about something that you have struggled with all your life that you know hurts you deeply but you just can’t seem to move past that deep rooted hurt?

I believe that there are many people out there including myself that are carrying deep wounds that they still are holding on to but just can’t seem to let it go in order for them to heal. Which leads me to the movie I watched.

I watched this movie called, “The Cleanse” and it was actually a very interesting movie, especially for me since I was able to view the movie from a spiritual perspective. The movie is about a man who’s name is Paul (if you watch the “Big Bang Theory” you will recognize the actor) and how he decides to go to a retreat in where he will need to participate in a detox cleansing program as part of the process to find healing for the pain he experienced after his breakup with his fiancé. Paul goes on this retreat after being interviewed and answering some questions and finds himself with 3 other people who joined the program. In order for him to complete the program and find healing for his emotional pain, he must drink a special detox juice that was made specifically for him based off of the pain or hurt he was carrying, so each person was given different detox drinks.

Paul drank all his juices and at the end of the night he began to release all the junk he was carrying by vomiting it out into the sink (yeah I know gross). The next day a noise draws his attention underneath the sink, he finds that the sink pipe was filled with some gunk that he released on to the floor after cleaning out the sink pipe. Paul stares at this blob on the floor, the blob suddenly starts to take form until it turns into a cute small little creature. In shock, he picks up the weird looking creature and realizes that this small creature was what he vomited. It was a manifestation of what he had released from his body after he drank the detox. Everyday this small cute little monster got bigger and bigger. The time at the retreat comes to an end and Paul must now meet with the creator of the program.

Paul is told that he must destroy this cute little creature before it gets bigger. Only problem was that he couldn’t let it go, he sympathized with it and was drawn to it, it was a part of him. It was either he destroyed it by throwing it in the fire or allow it grow into the large monster it was going to become. At the end he kills the cute little creature that became a hideous ugly monster. (There is more to the movie but I don’t want to give away all the details.) Paul ended up killing the creature, as much as it hurt him to destroy it, he killed it and the moment it died he felt free. What Paul destroyed was the hurt of his broken heart. That monster was a representation of the hurt of his wounded heart.

Like Paul, how many of us continue to hold on to something to the point that it starts to destroy us? How many of us are holding on to some type of pain, trauma, hurt, or offense? Like the little cute creature in the movie, the wounds that we carry start off small, without us realizing that the small wounds we carry feed off of other incidents that will cause these small wounds to become bigger and bigger wounds. Before you realize it that small seed of bitterness or unforgiveness becomes a huge stronghold in your life that controls and overpowers you. If you don’t let it go and release it to God, that deep hurt or deep wound will be used as a weapon from the enemy to destroy you.

The enemy wants nothing more than to steal, kill, and cheat you out of Gods promises for your life. The enemy will cause those small wounds of hurt to get bigger and bigger. Many of us have been wounded since we were children and we have held on to the pain for so long that it has already become a part of us. That deep hurt is now a huge monster in your life that dictates how you think, how you feel, how you live your life, and even how you treat others. When we begin the process of allowing God through the power of the Holy Spirit to visit the deep wounds of our soul and when the time comes for us to confront the monsters (demons) in our soul it becomes so hard to surrender what has been hurting us for so long. It becomes difficult to give and release the deep hurt to God that wants to take it from us and destroy it. We want to hold on to the pain because we have gotten so comfortable with it. The pain that we hide behind is used as a way to justify why we are victims and why we would should not let it go. The pain becomes our identity.

I have been through many years of pruning, and refining as I draw closer to God, I have found myself many times holding on to deep hurt that I just couldn’t let go of. The deep wounds in my soul were rooted years ago, and the enemy knew how to keep adding more hurt into my life so that the pain can get bigger and rooted deeper. The process and the journey of trusting God to take the pain away came in layers and much difficulty. But the more I surrendered the more at peace I was. Like Paul, once the monster (betrayal, trauma, offense, unforgiveness), whatever the monster represents in your life is destroyed, you will feel the release and peace of God come over you. Jesus died so that we can be free from all that the enemy uses to destroy us.

Forgiving those who hurt us, surrendering the pain of what was done to us allows God to fill those areas of pain with His unconditional love. I know that it will not be easy to let go of something that has hurt so deeply. Once we do, we can finally embrace the actual true freedom that comes from our heavenly Father. Surrender and lay at the feet of Jesus. Let Him heal you, and allow God to destroy that hurt once and for all. You deserve to be free, we all do. Get cleansed and let the Holy Spirit detox your soul from all the wounds, it will be worth it.

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Take the Limits Off!

Brenda Strachan — Sat, 25 Jul 2020 22:32:00 +0000

““Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh; is there anything too difficult for Me?””
‭‭JEREMIAH‬ ‭32:27‬ ‭AMP‬‬

Ever felt limited? As if you can’t do anything right? Everything around you just seems to be going wrong and than you ask the question…..God where are you?

I have, and its such a horrible feeling to have. I woke up one morning feeling the three “D’s”. Defeated, Disappointed, and Discouraged. I also felt restrained, as if I had something wrapped around me that wouldn’t really let me move. This feeling of restriction was on me and I couldn’t understand why?

One thing I did know, was that I was dealing with a lot of doubt and unbelief. I kept going back and forth with God about a promise He gave me to stand on. My problem was that as much as He would speak to me and confirm His promise to me, I still had a hard time believing Him. I was wrestling with God, “God how do you expect me to believe your word, when all I see is the opposite of it.” I was honest with Him and told God that I was battling with unbelief and doubt all because the storm I was facing looked too BIG for God to fix.

Here I am driving to work after dropping the kids off to school, and I feel the restraints on me. I begin to pray in the car and ask the Holy Spirit to expose what it was. My first thought was, I’m being spiritually attacked! I start rebuking and praying against all the enemies powers over me, and coming against witchcraft and I prayed against the spirit of lack and limitations. Then finally, I paused and stood quiet in the car. I asked God one more time, “Why do I feel like I am being limited?” “Where is this feeling of restraints coming from?”

Then a surprising response. At the very moment while I approached the stop sign, He spoke to my heart and said these words, “Now you know how I feel when you limit me and limit what I can do for you.” Every light bulb that you can imagine went on and in that moment when I heard those words, the invisible restraints that I had wrapped around me finally were lifted off. I felt this sense of freedom.

I had limited God! I had placed Him in a BOX and pretty much told the God who created the universe that He was not capable to fix my problems. If I could run and hide I would’ve but you can’t hide from God. I asked for forgiveness, repented, and learned a valuable lesson that day. Take the limits off GOD!

God does not belong in a box. He is more than capable to do what He said He will do. His word will not lie or return void. God gave me a promise, and rather than believe and stand on that promise I chose to believe the lies of the enemy. I also allowed unbelief and doubt to define God.

So shall My word be that goes forth out of My mouth: it shall not return to Me void [without producing any effect, useless], but it shall accomplish that which I please {and} purpose, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it. Isaiah 55:11 Amp

Now when I start to feel defeat, doubt, or unbelief try to creep in, I remind myself of what God had me experience. No more limitations or restraints on the God who is more than capable in resolving my issues. When His word says that noting is too hard for Him, believe Him.

Are you facing a situation today that just seems too hard for God to fix? If you are, just know that God can and will fix your situation. If He gave you a promise, hold on to it and declare it everyday until God moves and brings it to pass.

Don’t limit God and continue to place Him in a box. If He parted the Red Sea and created the Universe and everything in it than He can surely act on your behalf and do what He says He will do.

Prayer:

Father, we thank you that you are all powerful and creator of all things. Today we take the limits off of you that we have placed on you due to our unbelief and doubt. We repent and ask for your forgiveness. We ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to us how we may be limiting you or placing restraints on you. We thank you that nothing is too hard for you and that you can and will fulfill the promises you have promised us. In Jesus name, Amen

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The Heart of Stone

Brenda Strachan — Tue, 07 Jul 2020 22:30:12 +0000

I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. Ezekiel 36:26

A heart of stone? Me? No way, not me I like everyone.

Eventually I found out, that yes me! I had to find out through certain seasons and trials in my life, that I, yes me, was suffering from a horrible heart problem. The problem? A calloused and hardened heart. What did it mean to even have a calloused heart? How was my heart hardened? and what caused it to be hardened? (Biblically speaking of course)

The Webster Dictionary defines, Calloused as being hardened and thickened vb : 2a : feeling no emotion b : feeling or showing no sympathy for others : hard-hearted a callous indifference to suffering.

So lets back track for a minute. Let’s go back to a season in my life in where it took complete surrender for God to expose to me what was causing my heart to hardened. A couple of years ago when I lost my job, I had to also sell my home and move in with relatives. Unable to purchase a home right away and having to place all of our belongings in a storage brought upon me a lot of emotional stress. All doors were closed, and what I mean is, God closed certain doors in my life until He said it was time to open them. So what doors closed? I couldn’t find a job, and buying a new home was out of the question due to other issues that were going on at the same time.

Have you ever faced those moments in where everything just seems to be piling up on you and nothing is working out in your favor? Yeah, that was my situation and not a pleasant one at that. I was entering into a battle I was not equipped for due to the heart of stone I had.

Looking back, I now realize why things happened the way they did. I was faced with a situation in where I had to learn to surrender to God in order for Him to open the doors for me and my family to have our own home again. We had entered into a season in where God was going to expose my heart to me through complete submission. During this season in my life I had to learn to lean on God and wait on Him, but that process was not easy. When it came to me surrendering I did not want to give God the keys to my heart, I only wanted Him to enter into certain areas of my heart and every where else was off limits. I allowed shame and guilt keep God from unlocking the wounds of my heart.

I had to learn that having a relationship with God meant that I had to allow Him to search my heart and reveal to me the hidden hurts, pain, and sins that were buried deep down in my soul. The enemy is very sneaky, he likes to hide behind our wounds so that we don’t recognize that he is the one keeping us in bondage. I had started to suffer from panic attacks during the season of losing my job and home. If you have ever had panic attacks you know that they are very scary. All of sudden you feel this horrible fear come over as your heart starts to pound out of your chest a mile a minute, before you know it you have these frightening thoughts come over you, am I dying? The fear of death all of sudden overwhelms you and you freeze not really knowing whats going on with you. After 3 long minutes of nothing but fear gripping your entire body, your heart rate slows down and you finally move away from the spot in where you were crippled. There were nights in where I would feel fear enter my room as I would wake up. I was suffering from anxiety and fear for many years and now facing the financial burden and having no home added to my anxiety and fed my fears.

I couldn’t understand what was going on with me, but as I drew closer to God in prayer, He was able to show me exactly what was going on. One night I had a dream, in this dream I was in a bedroom sitting on a bed, the room was dark and for some reason there was wind blowing some curtains around, on the bed I see something strange crawling underneath the bed covers. As I lift the covers to see what was moving under the sheets I see a dark figure with its eyes glowing staring at me. Finally, I woke up and immediately prayed. As I prayed and looked for the interpretation of the dream the Holy Spirit revealed to me that the enemy was hiding and covering himself in my pain. That would explain why I saw the evil spirit crawling under the sheet. The enemy was using fear and anxiety to distract me from allowing God to show me the issues that were keeping my heart hardened. What was revealed to me was that I carried unforgiveness in my heart towards certain people in my life that had hurt and wounded me. When you carry unforgiveness towards people who have hurt you in the past you give the enemy legal rights to torment you and you hinder yourself from receiving Gods blessings and forgiveness for your life.

I had a heart of stone towards the people that judged me, criticized me, and betrayed me, and it was time for me to heal and let that pain go. As God continued to show me the persons I had to forgive and my way of thinking towards them had to change as well. I couldn’t continue to hold on any longer to what was done to me or what was said about me. I had to surrender those individuals to God in prayer and just release them. I cried out and asked God to help me forgive they way He only knew how. My heart was hard towards these individuals, I had no feelings towards them and I just wanted to see them pay for the way they treated me. The moment I was finally able to let go and forgive, the panic attacks stopped.

““And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses.” Mark‬ ‭11:25‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

I had to forgive in order for God to give me a right standing spirit with Him and be renewed and healed. Letting go of unforgiveness meant I had to start praying for them and respond with love rather than a cold and selfish attitude. I had to seek peace and operate in a heart of flesh. A heart of flesh meant I had to look at those that hurt me they way Jesus looks at them, which was the same exact way He sees me, with unconditional love. To treat people right even when they still want to judge me and criticize me. It takes total surrender to God to allow Him to not only heal you but to also help you and teach you how to forgive and bless others.

Do you have areas in your heart that are starting to hardened because of something or someone who has wounded you? If so, give it to God, ask Him to search your heart and show you any hard spots that are trying to take root in your heart. God is faithful in exposing the conditions of your heart. Forgive and free yourself today of the pain and torment that unforgiveness brings. Your freedom is more important than the pain you carry done by others.

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The Pile of Laundry

Brenda Strachan — Tue, 07 Jul 2020 21:45:30 +0000

Ever look at the pile of laundry waiting for you to be washed and folded, and you say an inner prayer, Jesus help me? I do….

As I enter the laundry room and look around at the mountains of clothes that are just waiting to be washed, folded, and put away. I ask myself, “How did I get here?” Where did all this clothes come from? Isn’t there only 4 people in this house? As I start to sort the clothes from dark’s to whites, from towels to socks, I start to moan and groan. The more I focused on the amounts of clothes the more overwhelmed I got. It was as if there was a never ending portal that was dumping clothes in the laundry room that I was unaware of. Like really? Where did all this clothes come from? Don’t get me wrong I actually enjoy washing clothes and folding them and smelling the awesome smell of Gain but the amounts of clothes just overwhelmed and zap the energy out of me like some type of Kryptonite.

Four loads later, 5 laundry baskets filled and 1 day later, I’m still complaining and groaning. While putting the clothes away in their proper drawers and rooms I begin to listen to worship music and rather than to allow the complaining thoughts over take me, the Holy Spirit starts to nudge me. I can sense Him speak to my heart and say, If you took your eyes off of the pile of all the laundry and focus on the worship music your mood will shift.

I take his advice and as I focus on the music and just worship God the pile of clothes that was causing me to be frustrated and irritated soon begins to fade. In that moment God begins to show me a small valuable but important lesson.

There will be moments in life where trials will look like that huge mountain of clothes. You will feel overwhelmed, stressed, frustrated, and every negative emotions will flood and overtake you. But, the moment you take your eyes off the pile of laundry and focus on just enjoying the music and make it fun, all those negative emotions lift and disappear. When the storms of life come to overwhelm us, we must always keep in mind that if we keep our eyes fixed on the storm we lose sight of the one who can calm the storm. Jesus….

As a mom and wife, dealing with all the household chores, we can easily get caught up in all the chaos going on inside our homes. When we look at the piles of laundry on the floor, the pile of dishes in the sink, the piles of mail on the table you can’t help but to feel overwhelmed . If your like me, organization brings you peace. I realized in the midst of spending hours washing, folding, and repeating the process multiple times, that Jesus was my peace, and that surrendering my anxiety of seeing piles of chaos everywhere to Jesus helped me have peace. Even in the simplest example like a pile of laundry, taught me that Jesus may not always remove the storms that come to overwhelm us but that He will give us peace in the midst of the storms. In those moments we can learn to dance, sing, and worship in the rain, rather than to stand there complaining and just getting wet. When mommy and wife duties try to overwhelm you, say, “Jesus, only you are my peace so let’s clean this house together and get our dance and worship on.

Grace, mercy, and peace (inner calm, a sense of spiritual well-being) will be with us, from God the Father and from Jesus Christ, the Father’s Son, in truth and love. 2 JOHN 1:3 (AMP)

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The Father to the Fatherless

Brenda Strachan — Tue, 07 Jul 2020 21:38:44 +0000

Father to the fatherless, defender of widows–this is God, whose dwelling is holy. Psalms 68:5

As many of us know Fathers Day came as quickly as it went. To all the Fathers reading this post, Happy Fathers Day and I pray that you were filled with love, honor, and appreciation.

As I spent Fathers Day with my own dad and husband, all I can do is be thankful to God for all the men He placed in my life, including my stepdad as well. Once the day winded down I took some time to browse through Facebook and see all the shot outs that were made to all the “Good Fathers” out there. After some time alone in my room, I was reflecting back on the Pastors message I heard during Sunday Service. He discussed that in order for us to experience revival it begins in our homes. We need to begin reverencing God and start establishing morals, and values into our homes. I agree 100 percent with everything God placed in his heart to deliver to the body of Christ.

During my quiet time with God, God helped me to see certain Fathers in a different light and I am talking about the fathers that have been called, “Dead beat Dads.” We have been (and I include myself when I say this) quick to judge the dead beat dads all because they chose to abandon their children and leave the fathering to the woman they had children with. Unfortunately, we live in a world in where sin has taken root in all our lives, going all the way back to the days of Adam. It is without a doubt that Satan is out to destroy our homes, marriages, children, and relationship with God. The enemy will begin within the four walls of your home. The enemy will also ruin your relationship with your own father or spouse to change your view on who God is. Our relationships with our dads will cause us to see how we see our Heavenly Father. For example, if our dads or spouses leave us than we will have the perception that God will never be there for us when tough times occur. So who is a good target? The Head of the Household, our men, our husbands, and our fathers. The enemy knows that if he can remove the father from the home or attack the men in the weak areas they carry with pornography, drugs, woman, and greed than he can destroy the family unit and cause division in all homes.

Before I go any further, I am not excusing what many fathers have done when they leave their children behind or mistreat them. What I will share is my own personal revelation of what God has opened my understanding to, when it comes to broken fathers.

In my post, “Daddy’s Little Girl” I discuss my relationship with my own dad. I had to see my dad through the eyes of brokenness and not as the dad who struggled to be there for me. After learning a little bit about my dads childhood I realized that my dad struggles to show love because he as child may have not been shown how to love.

Keep in mind, our children are a reflection of who we are. They follow all our footsteps. They pick our good ways and our not so good ways and if we are not careful with certain bad behaviors that we have,then our children will pick up the same bad behaviors and carry them to their adult years and into their own marriages as well.

You may know a father who had a very strict and abusive dad of his own, or a father who grew up with an alcoholic father who drank and became abusive and controlling. There are fathers out there who were molested as children and carry that guilt and shame all the way until they had their own children. There are many fatherless fathers right now who did not have any fatherly example to teach them how to be a dad. Maybe you know a husband or spouse who did have a father in the house but the father worked and worked to provide for his family that he was absent all though he was under the same roof. Some of us had fathers in our homes all our lives but these fathers were not loving or affectionate because maybe their own parents were not loving and affectionate with them as a child. There are many reasons why many fathers out there struggle, we just have to ask God our heavenly father, to show us what is the cause to the reasons why so many dads out there are choosing to just abandon and leave their children without caring or showing remorse. There are many other fathers who were orphaned due to their fathers dying from sickeness, accidental deaths, or even by taking their own lives. There are so many ways the enemy attacks these dads.

So in this post I want to pray and speak life to those fathers who have a dark past in which we have no idea about. I pray that God will be the father they never had, that Jesus will remove all hurt, pain and trauma from the past. May God begin to raise up men of God to defeat the enemy and his attacks against our homes, children, and marriages. That in the name of Jesus all theses fatherless fathers will find a father in Jesus. That their identities will be found in Christ Jesus and not in the mistakes or failures of their past. I pray that God will lead these men into the path of righteousness so that the next generation that follows will be blessed. May God break the bondages of sin over these men’s lives. I pray for every broken father out there who chose to leave their children for whatever reason, that they may find forgiveness, repent, and not give up on their children, may they realize that it’s never too late to build a relationship with the children they left behind. God is a God of new beginnings, restoration, and a God of many chances.

To all the moms and wives if the father of your children or even your own father is no longer in the picture. Pray for them, don’t bash them to your children, don’t allow seeds of pain be planted in their hearts because of what these men chose to do to you and their children. Forgive them and pray for them, it is the best thing you can do for your children. Forgiveness is not for them, it’s for you. Let’s pray for these broken fathers and hope that God uses them to break the vicious cycle the enemy has planted in their lives to not only destroy their lives but the lives of the next generation. There are so many children joining gangs, selling drugs, and being killed at such a young age, a good majority come from fatherless homes or from homes that do not have positive male role models. Let’s fight in prayer for our fathers, husbands, brothers, and boys. God bless all the fathers out there.

Great book recommendation is “God Distorted” by John Bishop. This book helps you to understand how your relationship with your dad effects your understanding and perception of our heavenly father. You can find it online at Amazon.com or Christianbooks.com

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