MuSiNgS... Face Up To You

We are beings that were created to love beauty, to seek beauty, to want to create beauty. Beauty is something that runs deep in the soul of every person, something put in us by our Creator. I believe it is for this reason most of us can identify with the desire to have an attractive appearance, and why not? We are the crown of creation! One of the reasons we were created was to reflect God’s genius and creativity, his romantic side, and his own beauty.

At the same time, we feel torn, because our society has twisted the meaning of beauty and made it something selfish and superficial. We find ourselves battling the slanted perceptions that people get from commercials, ads, billboards, and magazines. We have come to understand that there are certain body shapes that are considered attractive and others that are not. It is common knowledge that, if your clothes and accessories and hairstyles aren’t recent, you’re not good enough.

All of these misconceptions are blows to our self-perception: there’s a lot to measure up to, and ostracism to suffer if you fall short! On top of all that, someone at some time came up with the concept of mocking (no, it wasn’t invented by what’s-his-name on the playground in fifth grade) and even if you think you’re doing well, it’s likely someone will tell you the opposite.

I tell you the truth: the sum and total of a person’s beauty and worth cannot be gauged by looking at them—it is something that grows from the inside out. I believe that having a beautiful soul will cause a person’s appearance to be attractive. The beauty that I find in people that are God-conscious has often struck me. In the five weeks I have been here in Kona, I have thought many times that there are a lot of “beautiful people” on campus. Even though I might not find everyone’s features especially appealing to me, everyone I have met wears a reflection of their soul’s beauty on their face, and it enthralls me!

It has only been in the last few years that I really began to take this truth to heart and apply it to me. Before I began to think of my soul, the seat of who I am, as beautiful, few people ever told me I was pretty. Rarely was I happy with my face or clothes or the way my hair looked, and I would never go out without makeup. I was not confident enough in myself to be comfortable in a group of people who were just superficially good-looking.

Now that I understand the truth about beauty, the days that I feel pretty are significantly more than the days I don’t. I am aware of how my face is different from other people’s faces, but now I see that as more of an advantage than a detriment. I revel in all of the gifts God has given me and all the ways that I am able to create God-inspired beauty, and I am confident that I have no reason to be ashamed.

A couple weeks ago, I felt like God was challenging me to break one more protective mask: makeup. Since then, I have only used mascara, if anything, and I feel liberated! Allowing God to be my beauty has totally rejuvenated the way I see me in the mirror.

So. You know this is coming: your turn. Will you take the challenge? Face up to you.

MuSiNgS... My Fickle Heart

Ah my fickle heart!

When I need God’s love the most, I find myself running after all of the beautiful things (and people) around me. They are things that God created, but he never meant for me to yearn for them more than I yearn for him. In fact, I believe he hopes to use his creation to direct us toward him, to lead us to want to know the creator of such beauty.

I am growing to know God’s splendor more and more, yet still my fickle heart beats faster for tangible but fleeting beauty. It’s as if I think that anything that could cause me to thrill just by looking at it, or at the thought of it, should be worthy of my devotion. And that seems to happen less often with God than with other things or people.

If, in a clear-headed moment, I catch my thoughts wandering, then I begin to cry out to my lover-God. I confess that my thoughts are errant and would he please help me re-direct them! I couldn’t even get through writing this without being distracted several times!

I’m sure I’m not the only one who struggles like this, so pray with me:

God, direct my heart towards you and through you at all times. Cause me to revel in your beautiful creation, but only with the purpose of giving glory to you instead of to myself. I understand that I share in your glory and that you created me to partake of the beauty of your earth, but help me to remember to worship you with my thoughts and perceptions, and not myself or others.