Are You Beautiful?

Are you beautiful?

Just the other day I was wrestling with this very question.  And even though I do not consider myself ugly, and even though I know what God thinks of me I still wondered. I could see beauty everywhere around me.  I could appreciate the beauty of others and the beauty of nature but I could not see it in myself.

Have you ever been there?  Have you ever wondered if there was anything truly beautiful about you?

As the years go by and friends and relatives marry, do you wonder about your dream of building a family ever coming true?

Do you wonder about your true beauty if your career doesn't pan out or you can't find a job?

If you have ever been abused do you perhaps wonder if it was because there isn't anything beautiful about you?  

For me I was having a normal day.  It was a good day. I felt happy and then, out of nowhere I suddenly felt very sad.  I can't remember if it was a song on the radio or a happy couple I passed by on the street but something shifted my perspective in a moment.  Suddenly I was uncertain.  Suddenly I felt tears stinging my eyes.

I was hyper aware of my single status and every dream and hope, every prayer that has yet been unanswered.  It was so sudden and unexpected, like getting hit in the head by a cement block.

" What is this?"  I wondered.  " I was happy!  What just happened?"  My thoughts recalled Psalm 43:5

" Why am I discouraged? Why is my heart so sad?..."

And I remember wishing in those moments that I had a husband I could turn to who would hold me and tell me that I was beautiful to him and that I was cherished.  I so desperately needed to hear those words.  

And then I remembered the rest of the verse:  "... I will put my hope in God! I will praise Him again- my savior and my God." I started to pray and cried to God, sharing my sudden heart-ache and desire.  

God understands our sufferings and searches our hearts. I heard His words in my head and felt them in my heart:  

 " The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit."

~ Psalm 34:18

I  can't explain what triggered such a powerful mix of emotions that day.  All I can say is that He was with me and heard my cries.  Perhaps He knew someone reading this post would need to know that they are not alone.   

God knows the incredible worth and beauty each of us possess. He doesn't see us as we see ourselves.  Married or not, successful or not, abused or not abused our beauty does not lie in our flesh and all the things that weigh it down.  

No dear friends, our beauty comes from the new life, the new creatures we have already become through the sacrificial love of Jesus Christ.  Are you beautiful?  Yes!  You are beautiful even when you don't feel so.  Our beauty rivals the stars!  We shine with a glory that is hidden from this world.  But one day we will know ourselves as He knows us; perfect, whole, and beautiful.

" For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son,

that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life."

~John 3:16

" Let the king be enthralled by your beauty; honor him, for he is your lord."

~Psalm 45:11

" You are altogether beautiful, my darling; there is no flaw in you."

~Song of Songs 4:7