Beauty part 5
If beauty is in the eye of the beholder (and it is), then it's vitally important that we not only behold the right thing... but understand what it is that we are beholding. Look at John 1:14, "And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth." One of the main reasons God poured Himself into sinful flesh was so that we could see Him in a way that we understood. He became like us so that we could see that we are, in fact and in truth, like Him. "Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is" (1 John 3:2). We know who we are. We are the Son(s) of God. Right now. Always have been, always will be. That will never change because that can never change. The problem is that we don't always see clearly. In the beginning the world was dark and void and without form. We couldn't see until the light of the world began to shine. We couldn't see until Jesus appeared. He is the light of the world. And when He began to shine--when He entered our world--we began to shine. Because the same light that He is... we are! It's all one light. The light of life. The light of love. So we don't have to stumble around in the dark anymore, looking for love in all the wrong places. We can stand firm on the Rock knowing we are connected to the source of love. Knowing that we live in the very God who IS love, because He lives in us. That's the best place to be. That's beautiful. And, because what you do flows from what you believe, when you believe right... you will do right. When you know that you are beautiful--on the inside, because of the love that God has filled you with--you will BE beautiful, and you will DO beautiful. When He appears (to you, and in you, and through you, and as you), you will see Him as He is. And you will BE Him as He is. By letting Him be Himself. By resting. By submitting your body to Him as a living sacrifice. Jesus died (so that we could die) and now He lives (in us, so that we can live). Isaiah 61:3 tells us that God is, "To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified." I really like that part about being a tree of righteousness and giving glory to the Gardener. Good stuff. But to end this Rant series I want to hit the ashes for beauty trade. We've been through some stuff. All of us have. Nobody hits harder than life. The hardest part of life is just living. And, really, it's impossible to do with God. Without love. Because He's there for us when we stumble. When we fall. When we mourn. And He can redeem all of that time that the locusts steal. He can bring us out stronger on the other side. Scars don't make you ugly. They just prove that you've been through something. That you've lived. So don't worry about all that. Don't mourn for what you've lost, rejoice that you had it at all. And, listen, you CAN mourn. I'm not saying that. I'm simply saying don't get stuck there. Jesus wept when Lazarus died, even though He was fixing to go raise the man from the dead. I'm simply saying we can learn and grow from the things we go through instead of letting those things wreck us permanently. We can still be beautiful no matter what. We can still love no matter what. Because God takes everything that isn't love and trades it for love. That's what He wants us to have, so that's what He has given us!