Do You Believe You're Beautiful?

 

When you look at a sunset, what do you think? If you're anything like me, you stand in complete awe at the beauty of the changing colors. How would you define a patch of flowers? Beautiful. How about looking at fresh, untouched, newly fallen snow? Beautiful. Now, how would you define yourself? I'm sure that the first word that comes to mind isn't beautiful. And yet the same hands that painted that sunset, gave each flower their detail and made each snowflake different made you.

 

I used to be the girl who would sit in the mirror and point out every flaw I could find. I mean, why not? Society told me that I should only weight 125lbs. Society told me that my hair should be pin straight and long. Society told me that I should wear so much makeup that I look like Rhianna. I was so caught up in what society told me that I needed to be, but when did I listen to what God said I was? After all, society didn't tell the sun when to rise and when to fall. Society didn't put the atmosphere into orbit. Society didn't sculpt the mountains in Alaska, or paint the Northern Lights by hand in the sky.

 

So what authority does society have in comparison with the God of the universe, the King of kings and Lord of lords? (a rhetorical question, because we all know the answer is they have no authority). And yet we hang on their every word. We listen so closely to their voice that His voice gets so dismal that it nearly diminishes in the shouts of Instagram, the Oscars and MTV.

 

In all of that we need to reach out for His voice more than ever. We need to press into His truths and shut out the lies. We need to remind ourselves who He says we are.

 

I have given some of my youth girls the Psalm 139 challenge. You read through the whole chapter day one, and every day after that you read one chapter a day and meditate on the words of the Lord. Over and over it reminds us of God's all knowing power. He knows when we rise, He knew us before we were a thought in our parents heads, etc. One of the most amazing verses in this chapter are in verses 13-16, where it says "For You created my inmost being; You knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Your works are wonderful, I know that full well.  My frame was not hidden from You when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be."

 

I can't wrap my head around the fact that He knit me together. He knew that my hair would be huge. He knew that I would be 5' 4". He knew that I would have honey colored eyes, and caramel colored skin. He knew how many days I would be on earth, whether twenty or one hundred and twenty before I even took my first breath He was choosing to use me. Get this, He did the same for you.

 

Talk about beautiful. Next time that you are plagued by the fear of not being beautiful, look out the window. The same God that sculpted the tree outside sculpted your inward being. He knew how tall or short you would be. He knew how loud or quietly you would laugh. He knew how many hairs would be on your head. He has everything, and yet He still wants us. He still loves us. He is captivated by us. And that's absolutely BEAUTIFUL.

1 Peter 3:3-4
"Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as elaborate hairstyles and the wearing of gold jewelry or fine clothes. Rather, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight."