Behold(en)

Mirrors.

If there’s a ministry for me to have or a work for me to do or a gift for me to share, then it’s for women.  It’s a charge for us, as women, to see ourselves.

“For now we see through a glass, darkly…”

Looking into a mirror is often a woman’s greatest torment.  We’re simultaneously drawn to and repelled by it.  In a mirror, we see everything that we are not…or at least, what we think we’re not…  And for as much as we try to be everything to everyone around us, when we look into a mirror, we often see our everything as still not quite enough. 

Vogue.  Elle.  Cosmopolitan.  Vanity Fair.  Allure.  Marie Claire…celebrations of the female aesthetic.  They offer so many opinions on attractiveness and desirability.  Petite.  Tall.  Fair-skinned.  Dark-skinned.  Curvy.  Thin.  Long haired.  Short haired.  Brown eyed.  Blue eyed.  The definition of beauty is ever-changing. 

When we stand in front of a mirror, we are…these opinions are…exaggerated.  We see more fine lines and extra weight.  When we stand in front of a mirror, we see thinning hair and a body that’s shifting with time.  When we stand in front of a mirror, this place of preparation for perfection, we likely see imperfections that we think make us not quite enough.

The world sees the lipstick, we see the loss. 

The world sees the coiffed hair, we see the heartache.

The world sees the stilettos, we see the sorrow.

The world sees the French-tipped nails, we see the fear.

When our husbands are inattentive, we see unattractive. 

When we’re single, we see unsightly. 

When our children have disheartened us, we see disgraced.    

When we’re barren, we see blemished. 

When we’re not perfect homemakers, we see homeliness. 

When our careers, either professional or academic, are stalled, we see squalid. 

When we no longer fit into that little black dress, we see disfigured. 

We behold ourselves in comparison to a worldly standard. 

We’re beautiful, but we’re broken.

Mirrors.

If there’s a ministry for me to have or a work for me to do or a gift for me to share, then it’s for women.  It’s a charge for us, as women, to see ourselves.

“but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.”

I am inviting you, sister, to consider looking into another mirror…the mirror of the Word.  It frees us, allowing us to radiate and to see the beauty within ourselves, others, the world around us, and ultimately, the beauty of God in the ashes of life’s struggles.  It gives us a different perspective.  This mirror shows us that we can see ourselves, under the light of faith, differently.  Beautifully.  No flaws.  No fears.  No failures.  More than enough.  Gracefully sufficient. 

The Bible…celebration of the female character.  It offers so many truths on attractiveness and desirability.  Compassionate.  Wise.  Kind.  Dutiful.  Industrious.  Loving.  Trustworthy.  Holy.  The definition of beauty is constant, never changing.   

When we bow before the mirror of the Word, we are…these truths are…enlivened.  We see more grace and glory.  When we bow before the mirror of the Word, we see a righteousness crown and virtuousness.  When we bow before this mirror, this place of preparation for perfection, we undeniably see grace that makes us uniquely special and excellently blessed.     

Regardless of…who we are to everyone around us, what the expectations are of us, when we think our change is going to come, why things happen the way that they do, or where we are in life…our story is, we are, a reflection of the greater One.

Without comparison, we behold ourselves as daughters of the Most High.

We’re beautiful, but we’re broken.  Purposefully. 

We owe it to God, who fashioned us fearfully and wonderfully in His image, to see ourselves the way that He does, to appreciate His craftsmanship and to confidently serve Him by making full use of the gifts that He’s given us. 

We’re more than our faces or our figures.  We’re our faith.

PRINCIPLE:  “But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.”  2 Corinthians 3:18