God grows beauty

We love to look at beauty.

One way I love to look at beauty is through photography. I enjoy looking at photography of different places or things I consider beautiful: green mountainsides, a river between houses in Italy, couples in love, a colorful field of flowers… I could go on for a long time.

God filled this world with beauty.

Like our Creator, we love to create beauty, too.

But our culture has changed the definition of beauty and distorted it into an obsession instead of appreciation.

The word “glamour” comes to mind, and makes me think of how showy our society has become that beauty is an object to be obtained then displayed.

Beauty is something we all are enthralled with, yet we still often overlook it. We miss beauty in the everyday blessings of breathing, nature, people; we miss beauty in our own reflection.

I love the saying, “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.” God’s eye beholds you and sees beauty.

God looks at us and sees beauty.

Wow.

Now, like God, can we look at others and see beauty? I believe so, when we’re looking through God’s eyes?

I really like the movie Princess Diaries. I’m thinking right now of the scene when Mia is told she is a princess, she gives all the reasons why she can’t be. I feel like when God shows us our true royal identity, we shoot back our reasons why that can’t be true. And when we finally realize our inheritance, we can be transformed into truly “owning” who we have been all along, but we never lived it, because we never knew or believed it. Mia’s grandmother was able to look at a young, insecure, shy teenage girl and see the Princess she was. She saw Mia as she was in that moment, and she saw all that she could become.

In time, Mia was transformed (not only outwardly) but also in who she was, and she did truly become a Princess and accept who her Father saw her as- so much more than she ever saw on her own.

I like to think of beauty as a transformation.

God sees us and sees all we can become; He sees the finished work.

How can we learn to look at others in that way? How can we not only find beauty in who they are now by looking through God’s eyes and see all they can become.

We end up judging people so often is because we only see them as they are now. Even if we see good, we tend to pick up on the things we’d like to change. If only we could see that there is so much hope in the future for them to grow and be transformed.

If we starting seeing beauty God’s way instead of our own, I believe He will give us a vision and hope for others. God wants to bring transformation in so many broken people, but we must be willing to see that vision of beauty He desires to bestow.

Today I was thinking about the summer internship I applied for. I would be living in Nairobi, Kenya for at least two months and working within (social justice) organizations and ministries within that area. I began reading up more about Nairobi and looking at pictures.

My heart broke as I saw the slums and the poverty of the community that lives there. It’s not a “beautiful” picture.

I asked God, “where is Your hope in this?” And He told me: He is God, nothing is impossible for Him; He desires to bring transformation. God brings beauty from brokenness.

People, communities, and ourselves… we are broken. God is a restorer, He gives us His abundant life and revives us. God bring the dead to life. He can use us to plant seeds in others, or water seeds already planted. We just must remember that God is the one who does the work of transformation.

“What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe—as the Lord has assigned to each his task. I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow. So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow.” (1 Corinthians 3:5-7)

God has created beauty all around us. There are seeds of beauty, sprouts, and full grown beauty. Be encouraged, when you brokenness…

“He has made everything beautiful in its time” (Ecclesiastes 3:11).

I have been listening to this song all day; I hope it penetrates your heart like it did mine:

[Note: Sorry if my thoughts are scattered, it’s very late but I wanted to post this right away.]