Beauty is unexpected.
Sunday morning I sat in church and listened as the pastor took us through John 8:31.. "If you abide in My Word, you are My disciples indeed." It was a great compelling sermon as he broke down each word.. abide (gotta love NKJV).. in... WORD...
The pastor then looked out at us triumphantly and called the Word nourishment, revelation... and beautiful.
Huh?
I'll be honest, I love the Bible. I think of it as eye-opening, wonderful, true, and inspired, but I've never really thought of it as beautiful.
That one point so stuck in my head that I wandered off for a few minutes, as we all do, and started reflecting. Why don't I ever think of Scripture as 'beautiful'? What do I think of as beautiful?
I think flowing silky fabric is beautiful. I think dark curly hair is beautiful. I think a ninety-year-old couple holding hands on a park bench is beautiful. I think watching beams of pink and orange and purple light shoot across the sky at sunrise is beautiful. I think the way a man gazes at his new bride is beautiful.
Then I realized that what I consider 'beautiful' tends to be external or fleeting. Ooh, that was tough to see. But it was true.. Everything I had just listed mentally had to do with outer beauty, not character. That's the way our culture views beauty, as purely an external presentation using clothes, hair products, and great posture. Enter Barbie, who by those standards alone would win the beauty contest year after year. Perfect hair - which in thirty years will go gray - perfect teeth - which will be replaced by dentures - and impossible measurements in the bust and waist. A finite, temporary example of beauty. Not like the Bible.
What makes the Bible beautiful?
It's true. It knows the human heart as both exceedingly passionate and hopelessly wicked, and still through Jesus God offers us grace.
It's lyrical. I mean, "You are clothed with honor and majesty.. Who cover Youself with light as with a garment.. who stretch out the heavens like a curtain... He lays the beams of His upper chambers in the waters.." Psalm 104. That's breathtaking!
It is unfailing. Isaiah 40:8, "The grass withers, and the flower fades, but the word of our God stands forever." Bleach-white teeth and curly hair only go so far in this life. Our employment fails. Our families fail. Our bodies fail. But the Word cannot fail. God is incapable of failure, and because of that is utterly beautiful.
Toward this I strive, seeking the unfailing beauty that can only come from knowing and living God's Word rather than the failing beauty of Barbie, whose proportions make her the most likely candidate to fall over and then break in half because her size 3 foot slipped out of her size 3 high heel in its daily battle to support her 39 inch bust. Oy.
Biblical beauty is puzzling to the world, because at first glance it may not be noticeable. It's the beauty of "a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God." It's the beauty of faithfulness in marriage. It's a young child who wants to serve God. It's a man standing up to a giant. It's a King washing the feet of his followers. And, this Easter weekend, it's an empty tomb and a risen Savior.
Take that, Barbie.
- Grace Marita
Thursday, April 21, 2011
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
The Unwelcome Critic - aka Satan
I just came out of battle. While I may not be covered in blood and blue paint as William Wallace in Braveheart was, I bear the marks of a fierce fight.
Every woman has those days when she doesn't feel beautiful or desirable by any stretch of the imagination. For me it was very recently. I wasn't feeling very well that morning, I was operating on a hairpin trigger and was irritated and moody... girls will understand why ;) Standing in front of the bathroom mirror that morning and looking at myself, sans makeup or cute clothes, I felt like a blob.
On cue, my accuser showed up.
Look at yourself. You're not pretty.
"No! No! Not true. I'm the daughter of the King. I'm beautiful because I bear His image to the world.."
Your teeth aren't white enough. Your face isn't symmetrical.
"It's a lie! It's a lie! He loves me just as I am... He made me.."
Then the zinger came.
You're not beautiful. No man will ever find you attractive.
I lost ground. But even as tears filled my eyes and I started believing him, I fought back, though starting to weaken.
"You're lying. You're the father of lies. You were too proud of your beauty, that's why God threw you out of heaven."
Silence. I was alone, at this point curled up on the ground weeping. It wasn't true... but it felt true...
"Jesus.... Jesus... help me... tell me it's not true... why am I beautiful? Am I?"
I had no more verses to hurl at Satan; my mind was frantically searching for them and coming up empty. I was totally drained mentally and spiritually. Where do we go from here? How do we battle against the ultimate liar of all time?
We wield the power of the Word, which is living and active, and sharper than any two-edged sword, the writer of Hebrews tells us. We get up off the mat and raise our sword once more. We fill our minds and hearts with more promises and truths than Satan can handle, and keep replenishing our weapons for such a time as this. Each promise from God to us is like a grenade to Satan. By claiming it, we remove the pin. By reciting it, we are lobbing it into Satan's camp. So claim the promises. Strap on your armor, put on that blue paint, and get ready to get dirty. We may be struck down but we are not destroyed. Jesus has won the war, but there are smaller skirmishes yet to be won.
Let's suit up.
-Grace Marita
Every woman has those days when she doesn't feel beautiful or desirable by any stretch of the imagination. For me it was very recently. I wasn't feeling very well that morning, I was operating on a hairpin trigger and was irritated and moody... girls will understand why ;) Standing in front of the bathroom mirror that morning and looking at myself, sans makeup or cute clothes, I felt like a blob.
On cue, my accuser showed up.
Look at yourself. You're not pretty.
"No! No! Not true. I'm the daughter of the King. I'm beautiful because I bear His image to the world.."
Your teeth aren't white enough. Your face isn't symmetrical.
"It's a lie! It's a lie! He loves me just as I am... He made me.."
Then the zinger came.
You're not beautiful. No man will ever find you attractive.
I lost ground. But even as tears filled my eyes and I started believing him, I fought back, though starting to weaken.
"You're lying. You're the father of lies. You were too proud of your beauty, that's why God threw you out of heaven."
Silence. I was alone, at this point curled up on the ground weeping. It wasn't true... but it felt true...
"Jesus.... Jesus... help me... tell me it's not true... why am I beautiful? Am I?"
I had no more verses to hurl at Satan; my mind was frantically searching for them and coming up empty. I was totally drained mentally and spiritually. Where do we go from here? How do we battle against the ultimate liar of all time?
We wield the power of the Word, which is living and active, and sharper than any two-edged sword, the writer of Hebrews tells us. We get up off the mat and raise our sword once more. We fill our minds and hearts with more promises and truths than Satan can handle, and keep replenishing our weapons for such a time as this. Each promise from God to us is like a grenade to Satan. By claiming it, we remove the pin. By reciting it, we are lobbing it into Satan's camp. So claim the promises. Strap on your armor, put on that blue paint, and get ready to get dirty. We may be struck down but we are not destroyed. Jesus has won the war, but there are smaller skirmishes yet to be won.
Let's suit up.
-Grace Marita
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