A Beauty Worth Pursuing

The desire to be beautiful is an ageless longing. Beauty has been extolled and worshiped and kept just out of reach for most of us. (Do you like having your picture taken? Do you like seeing those pictures later? How do you feel when people ask you your age? This issue of beauty runs deep!) For others, beauty has been shamed, used, and abused. Some of you have learned that possessing beauty can be dangerous. And yet-and this is just astounding-in spite of all the pain and distress that beauty has caused us as women, the desire remains.

And it's not just the desire for an outward beauty, but more-a desire to be captivating in the depths of who you are. Cinderella is beautiful, yes, but she is also good. Her outward beauty would be hollow were it not for the beauty of her heart. That's why we love her. InThe Sound of Music, the Countess has Maria beat in the looks department, and they both know it. But Maria has a rare and beautiful depth of spirit. She has the capacity to love whiskers on kittens and mean-spirited children. She sees the handiwork of God in music and laughter and climbing trees. Her soul is Alive. And we are drawn to her.

Ruth may have been a lovely, strong woman, but it is to her unrelenting courage and vulnerability and faith in God that Boaz is drawn. Esther is the most beautiful woman in the land, but it is her bravery and her cunning, good heart that moves the king to spare her people. This isn't about dresses and makeup . . . Don't you recognize that a woman yearns to be seen and to be thought of as captivating? We desire to possess a beauty that is worth pursuing, worth fighting for, a beauty that is core to who we truly are. We want beauty that can be seen; beauty that can be felt; beauty that affects others; a beauty all our own to unveil. 


Last night the women in our ministry had a dinner and time of sharing. As we finished dinner and started making brownies, we all began whining for ice cream to go with our brownies that weren't even in the oven yet. Yes, we are selfish women. And very conspiring women as well. We realized our friend's brother, Josh, would be getting out of class soon and he could drop off some ice cream on his way home. I'm not sure we all actually expected him to do such a thing for such a whiny group of college girls. Just one phone call and he agreed to it! Not only did he drop off a tub of Neapolitan ice cream, but a note of encouragement and yellow tulips for all us ladies. The note specifically asked for us to thank God, and not him. But we are girls. So you know how the conversation lead on from there. Soon enough just about every girl was then whining about how we wish more men were like that and less passive. I now want to apologize for any guy's egos who were destroyed unknowingly in the process. We ask for your forgiveness and realize we also have a job to uplift and encourage our brothers in Christ. It got me thinking though, about biblical manhood and the sinful nature of passivity. And also the desire for women to be pursued and thought of as beautiful. So this is for all you ladies. And especially for Brandy. :) You are all beautiful!  


God loved us so much He sent His Son for us. He sacrificed His Son to pursue a relationship with us. And God has written us a love letter for each day through His Word. Letters like the one below are nice and encouraging, but this is just the words from a servant of Christ. A man who is not perfect in any way. 

Christ's love is so much more and He is perfect! Now go read Isaiah 43:4 :)

 

I decided to just take a picture of it. Here's a part of God's massive love letter to you. He loves you.