Beauty You Were Meant to Radiate
15 March
Can I level with the ladies for a second here and talk about my hair? My hair is so bizarre because if I just leave it to dry on its own, it's very frizzy and randomly wavy. Like it's not even cute beach waves either, it's just a mess. So, as a result, ever since I discovered the flat iron in the 6th grade, I've been straightening my hair nearly every day since; I prefer the way my hair looks straight to how it looks naturally. However, the entire time I've been doing this, I've always said I'd love to just find a way to style my natural hair so it looks good because I actually don't love straightening it every day; it's a ton of work and it kills my hair. I'm also really tired of going to my hairdresser and having them yell at me for it the way a dentist yells at a patient who doesn't floss. Recently, I asked one of my stylist friends what they would recommend and she recommended using a curl enhancing product and drying it with a diffuser. So, about 2 weeks ago, I tried it. Surprisingly, I didn't hate it. Even more surprising was the response I got from the people around me. I had tons of people ask if I had gotten a hair cut or asked what I had done differently. I'd also been told many times how beautiful it looked and as I began to do it more and get used to seeing myself with my "new hair", I started to believe what they were saying. One day, I looked in the mirror and actually felt happy and comfortable with my hair and the way it looked and thought how funny it was that after all that time ruining my hair with a flat iron, I felt more beautiful with my natural hair.
God uses really simple, everyday situations to teach me really complex lessons and this was one of them. Through this, I began to really realize that I was created with hair that was not straight the way I wanted it, but rather had some sort of natural curl to it. God created me that way intentionally because He, in His perfect ways, thought that Megan would be more beautiful with wavy hair (God forbid) rather than straight hair. But what I did was ruin the very beauty that I was meant to radiate all along in response to insecurity.
As humans (and especially women) we are very aware of our flaws and will do everything we can to rid ourselves of them. Whether it's an extensive skincare regiment, expensive clothing budget, or the plethora of products we will shell out tons of money for in an effort to perfect ourselves, we are always looking for a way to fix what's wrong. What if we didn't try to fix what was wrong but rather embraced it? What if the true beauty we are looking for is not behind our attempts to rid ourselves of flaws, but rather is within the very flaws themselves?
Pause for a second here: I'm not trying to condemn beauty enhancing treatments because quite honestly I'm not giving those up either. But rather I saw this situation in my life as a physical representation of a very real heart issue that I have and one that I imagine many others do too.
For me, I try really hard (sometimes consciously and sometimes not) to make myself acceptable to other people. Sometimes it's through physical appearance, and sometimes it's through molding my character, habits, and dress to be like other people that are seemingly more accepted than myself. In the past, I've had a really bad habit of forfeiting who I am so that I can adopt who someone else is; a "character transplant" if you will. The problem is, the transplant is rejected every single time because it's not meant for me; it's meant for that person. Recently, God has really been teaching me to embrace who I am and show that true self to other people. He's been showing me that my true beauty is found within the very intentional way I was created. I wasn't designed to be like someone else, He designed me with my personality and even my physical traits because He deemed that the most beautiful way to make me.
Psalms says:
"Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex!
Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it." - Psalms 139:14
What's cool about this is that God's made us so complex and each part of us has been intentionally crafted to make us who we are. The Psalmist describes this workmanship as "marvelous" too. That word is meant to be used to evoke a sense of awe and wonder. When you marvel at something you look at it with a sense of astonishment; you cannot believe what you are seeing because it is so wonderful. That's how we were meant to see ourselves because that's how we were created. And what's more, you and I were created and the work is complete so when the Word says that His works are marvelous, that means right now! Not tomorrow, not when you change that one thing, no, right now!
For me, I try really hard (sometimes consciously and sometimes not) to make myself acceptable to other people. Sometimes it's through physical appearance, and sometimes it's through molding my character, habits, and dress to be like other people that are seemingly more accepted than myself. In the past, I've had a really bad habit of forfeiting who I am so that I can adopt who someone else is; a "character transplant" if you will. The problem is, the transplant is rejected every single time because it's not meant for me; it's meant for that person. Recently, God has really been teaching me to embrace who I am and show that true self to other people. He's been showing me that my true beauty is found within the very intentional way I was created. I wasn't designed to be like someone else, He designed me with my personality and even my physical traits because He deemed that the most beautiful way to make me.
Psalms says:
"Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex!
Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it." - Psalms 139:14
What's cool about this is that God's made us so complex and each part of us has been intentionally crafted to make us who we are. The Psalmist describes this workmanship as "marvelous" too. That word is meant to be used to evoke a sense of awe and wonder. When you marvel at something you look at it with a sense of astonishment; you cannot believe what you are seeing because it is so wonderful. That's how we were meant to see ourselves because that's how we were created. And what's more, you and I were created and the work is complete so when the Word says that His works are marvelous, that means right now! Not tomorrow, not when you change that one thing, no, right now!
The last thing I really like about this passage of scripture and the thing that I am still working on is the last bit where he said "how well I know it." That's not a begrudging admission but rather an expression of confidence in who God has created him to be. Wouldn't you love to be in a place like that where you could look at yourself in the mirror and say that you are marvelous the way you are and say it in a way that would mean you know it and believe it with every fiber in your being? I would!
I am subscribed to Steven Furtick's daily emails called "Waking Faith" and yesterday he sent out this image that I thought was especially appropriate for this post.
How beautiful is that statement? Let's live life like we believe that God is in love with his complete and marvelous work: us!
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