vanity


            I have never thought of myself as a vain person. I’m not a girly girl who wears makeup or styles my hair. However, watching my hair fall out, the tug toward vanity has become pretty strong. We never realize what a blessing we have until we no longer have it. As I showered today and the hair collected around the drain I felt the urge to sob and just as I was about to give in I distinctly heard, “I see what’s on the inside.” I stopped the sob and thought about that. What is on the inside?

            Maybe you are familiar with the Proverbs 31 woman. She is the woman I strive to be, honestly, some days I strive harder than others. Proverbs 31:30 “Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.” Fearing the Lord does not mean being afraid, it means to respect him, to listen to him, to place value in his love for me. How easy it is for this world to convince us that outward beauty is of the greatest importance. And how shallow is that? Beauty comes from within, it is how we serve others, it is in how we act and react to situations. The heart that belongs to God is filled with the peace that passes all understanding; it steps back from the world and considers God’s view of any given situation.

            I am not saying we should all abandon our jewelry boxes and makeup cases for yoga pants and t-shirts. There is value is putting one’s best face forward. However, the inner beauty of character far outweighs the physical appearance. May we all fear the Lord, women and men alike.  

 
Posted by

Comments

  1. StacyMay 1, 2013 at 11:14 PM

    thanks for sharing as you process this! what a truly beautiful lesson to ponder! love you!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

How are you?

Image
            When I wake, one of the first things I do is say, “Good morning God!” Some days are more enthusiastic than others. When I greet another human being, I usually follow that greeting with, “how are you?” This morning it occurred to me that I don’t ask God how he is. I have been contemplating this idea, how are you God? Obviously, given his attributes of omnipotence, omnipresence and omniscience it is easy to follow the train of thought that he has everything in check. Despite that; I think of him in human terms and I can’t help but feel he is; not mad but disappointed (cringe). When he looks at creation, like a parent gazing on the wreckage of a kid’s toy room, wouldn’t there be disappointment?             As I contemplated that, my meandering mind led me to consider guilt. The guilt that leads to the disappointment of others. Every culture I have known lays claim t...
Read more

I Don't Understand

Image
              I was walking with my good friend Patti this morning as we do most Saturdays, and we were discussing dependance on God versus a bank account when from out of my coat pocket my phone speaks and says, “I don’t understand.” In the moment it made us chuckle, but it is so appropriate because the phone (a worldly item) can’t understand that kind of faith. The world doesn’t understand that kind of faith. I have often heard stories of men and women of faith totally dependent on God, prayers being answered in supernatural ways at the very last minute. (Read up on George Mueller who ran an orphanage depending entirely on God). I desire that type of faith because try as I might, at times I still lean on my bank accounts and fear can creep in when my funds are low.             There is no way to completely understand the love of God, His ways are incomprehensible to the...
Read more

Masterpiece

Image
              As a young person, I was fond of painting, not great at it but reasonable. I set it aside when I fell in love and got married. In these days of isolation I needed to find some other ways to occupy myself other than baking and decided to get back to my paint brushes.   To get used to handling the brushes again I got myself a paint by number,             If you have never tried one of these let me give you a little insight. You receive a canvas with an image divided up into numbered areas and little pots of paint with corresponding numbers. Then you begin a sort of scavenger hunt trying to fill in all the spots of a particular number. Sounds simple enough, however some of these areas are so tiny they are easily overlooked. The tiny spots are important though, they give that little flourish that can draw the eye or round out an object.    ...
Read more