Obsessed with beauty

       Honor and majesty surround him; strength and BEAUTY fill his sanctuary. Psalm 96:6 

     I was worshipping Jesus and felt such a strong sense of His beauty. He is beautiful! He is magnificent and then these thoughts came to me......

     I was thinking about how we women care so much about how we look. We so desire to be beautiful creatures. I had observed a 40 year old woman who every time she passed by a mirror, or even a store-front window shop where she could catch her reflection, would turn her head to look at herself. I happened to be walking behind her when I saw her look into the store-front shop. At first, I thought she was looking into the store but then I realized she was gazing at herself, so much so that as she was walking on, she turned her head to look back and kept looking. It made me wonder, "What is she thinking? Is she wondering if she is pretty enough?"  After this, I noticed for the first time that her hair is died jet black.  She keeps her figure slim and dresses very stylish. I also noticed that men were giving her attention.

     I'm the same way. I so want to look good all the time. I make sure the best pictures of myself are posted on Face Book and I constantly wish that I was skinny.  I think it is healthy to care how you look and we should all try to be the best that we can be but it is not healthy to obsess with how we look. Our worth should not come from our looks. We should not depend on a man's compliments to keep us secure and happy.

     Then I began thinking that although women can be obsessed with looking good for others, men can be just as obsessed with looking at beautiful women! Men love to look at pretty women and I guess it's nice that they appreciate beautiful women. The problem is when it turns from appreciation to obsession or lust.

    Anyway, I was pondering on all of this when I realized that we should only be gazing at the beauty of Jesus. Women worrying about their looks are only thinking of THEMSELVES. Men, looking around for beautiful women are also only thinking of THEMSELVES. If both men and women stopped worrying about physical beauty and instead searched for the beauty in Jesus - would, I think, make us all happier.

      "One thing I have asked from the Lord, that I shall seek: That I may dwell in the house of the Lord, all the days of my life, to behold the BEAUTY of the Lord." Psalm 27:4 

     David understood this. And he had plenty of beautiful women to gaze at, so the fact that he desired only to be in the temple of the Lord and gaze at HIS beauty shows that HIS beauty is way more wonderful and fulfilling than a women's beauty. The 24 creatures spoken of in Revelations do nothing but fall down before HIM and sing, "Holy, holy, holy are YOU." I believe that even His attributes look beautiful. Holiness looks like beauty; His goodness looks like beauty; and His loves shines out in beautiful streams. The 24 creatures are so overwhelmed, that they throw their crowns down before His beauty.

     So, to the women I say,  the next time you are in a worship service and you are tempted to worry if your eye-liner is running or lament the fact that you forgot to put your lipstick on, just forget all that! Start looking heavenward and really worship the Lord. You will gain a glimpse of His beauty and His beauty will fall on you and make you more beautiful than you ever thought possible.

 Charm is deceptive and beauty does not last; but a woman who fears the Lord will be greatly praised. Proverbs 31:30 

     And you men, who are tempted to let your eyes wander the room so you can find the most beautiful girl in the room, know that there is a beauty beaming down on you and desiring your gaze. The King's beauty will so overwhelm you that you will thirst for nothing more than for one more glimpse of His face!

 Your eyes will see the King, in all His beauty. Isaiah 33:17a

 Honor and majesty surround him; strength and beauty fill his sanctuary. Psalm 96:6 

     He is truly beautiful. I have seen His smile, spread across His face so big and bright that I realized He has no worries! He is in constant joy. I have seen Him swirl and dance around the room during worship. His dance brings freedom and gladness. I have gazed upon His feet, still wearing the scars and imagining the great drops of blood and sweat falling upon them. They are the most beautiful feet and the reek of perfume still wafts off of them from the women who anointed those feel with perfume and her hair. I have felt His joy overwhelm my soul and found myself singing, "Beautiful, beautiful, He is only beautiful."