First, I apologize. It’s been far too long since I’ve updated this blog, but you shall wait no more. The last 5 months or so have been full of school, travels, personal events, and work schedules. As most of you may already know, I’m a little over halfway done with a Masters program in Professional Counseling at Liberty University. While it is equipping me to pass on wisdom to others, I often marvel at how God is teaching me so very much through this endeavor.
In review, I’m really learning how amazingly beautiful God is….and how incredibly trustworthy He has proved Himself to be. Back to the beauty of God, I’m seeing how He often reveals Himself through the most darkest of times, most unusual of situations, most unexpected timing, and through the most unlikely people. We can praise Him in all these things, we have reason to praise Him! Ok, what am I getting at?
But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. – 2 Corinthians 12:9, NIV
God is often made most beautiful in our weakness, through our imperfections, through our tragedies, through the unexpected people, through timing we would not choose (or in some cases would rather not choose), through circumstances we could not have guessed, and even more so in our shortcomings. It’s easy for me to see God’s beauty all around me when I’m sitting in the Swiss Alps, or on the coast of California. But can we see God’s beauty through the imperfect? Can we see God’s beauty through the smiling orphan? Can we see God’s beauty through our challenges?
I met a man some months ago who was very self-conscious about his smile. He had one tooth ever so slightly longer than the other in the front of his mouth. However, this man had a beautiful smile! God’s beauty was revealed through this man’s smile because of the joy and kindness in the man’s smile, and the pureness of heart behind his eyes. The man would light up a room with his smile! God uses our imperfections to reveal His beauty. I could see God’s beauty in this man and in his heart through the imperfections he thought he had.
I also knew a girl in college who had a sharp tongue, though she wanted to be thought of as soft and sweet. This girl was quite a beautiful girl on the exterior, but could often be not as beautiful when she’d cut people with her words. However, when people would love on this girl instead of becoming defensive or cutting her with their own words in retaliation, she would soften. God’s beauty was revealed through the love these patient servants offered her, it covered her imperfections. Currently, this same girl was taken through trials in her life that forced her to “break-up” with her sharp tongue. She has become a much softer daughter of God thanks to the love her fellow brothers and sisters in Christ chose to show her. His beauty was there in full bloom.
There is no imperfection that God cannot cover, His grace is enough. Grace isn’t only to cover what we’d identify as sin, but it also covers the imperfect, as well as our own shame. We give grace not only to those who hurt or challenge us, but we can also give grace to those who don’t meet our own selfish standards. Think of it this way, no one has to live up to our own expectations, but we are to love like Christ. We will spend our entire lives learning how to love like Christ, and that in and of itself will render us imperfect each time. We can give grace to those who fail to do it perfectly, and we can give grace to those who are simply different than us. We can choose to love them, just as God chooses to love us. God doesn’t love us because He “feels” like loving us, I’d say most of the time we can be pretty unlovely, but God chooses to love us because He is gracious and loving – how beautiful is that?!
Praying for you, and praying God reveals His beauty to you in the most unexpected ways, through the most unexpected people, and through the most imperfect of circumstances. He is so incredibly faithful, and so incredibly trustworthy. God chooses to love you, right where you are, as you are. You are accepted by a Holy God, with all your imperfections. We praise Him for these imperfections, as it enables Him to reveal how beautiful He is to you, and others around you by these imperfections. Much love in Christ!
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