Twenty-Four Days From the Ashes

In 1741, George Frideric Handel was a man the world had discarded. His operas had fallen out of fashion. Creditors circled. A stroke four years earlier had left him partially paralyzed. At fifty-six, London's once-celebrated composer seemed finished.

Then a libretto arrived from Charles Jennens — scripture passages woven together telling the story of the Messiah. Handel began composing. For twenty-four days, he barely ate or slept. His servant would find him weeping over the manuscript. When he finished the "Hallelujah" chorus, Handel reportedly said, "I did think I did see all Heaven before me, and the great God Himself."

The result was Messiah — a work that has moved audiences for nearly three centuries.

Here is what strikes me: God did not use Handel at the height of his fame. He used him in the ruins. The stroke, the failure, the debt — none of it disqualified him. It prepared him. Handel had spent decades mastering composition, but it was brokenness that gave him the ears to hear heaven's music.

Some of you feel written off — by age, by failure, by circumstances you didn't choose. But the Almighty wastes nothing. Every skill you have honed, every hardship you have survived, is raw material in His hands. Your purpose is not behind you. The masterpiece may be twenty-four days away.