Ashes (noun)

- The powdery residue of matter that remains after burning

- Ruins, especially the residue of something destroyed; remains; vestiges

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Something that is perceived as worthless, of no value. For something to become ash, the object has to be burnt till it loses its original form.

There are past happenings, stories we have to live with for the rest of our lives that we'd like to incinerate till it is no longer recognizable so that no one ever sees / hears / knows about them.

But, God tells us that He uses all of us, not one part is left out that He cannot use, even the parts that we'd like to reduce to ashes.  

He takes our worthlessness and exchanges something beautiful in its place.