beauty

Today I was driving to Arroyo Grande, and it was a hot day in SLO. Bright and sunny. I was approaching Avila Beach and I could see a layer of fog, covering and hugging the hills. It was beautiful. As I drove into the fog, the sun disappeared in an instant! It was dark, grey, and cold. From one minute to the next, it was hot and then it was cold. I marvelled at how quickly things changed.

Our lives are like that sometimes. We are going along with the sun shining bright, then BAM! The fog creeps in, looking cool from a distance, then engulfs you. Things become gloomy and you don't even realize how it happened. One lie, one doubt, one moment of pain, and a cloud surrounds you.

For me, this cloud sometimes is doubt over my beauty. I have struggled off and on with this for years...simply because I have not let God determine my beauty for me. I was created in His image, and therefore, I am beautiful. All things created by God are beautiful, despite the world's opinion on the matter. The world's opinion doesn't matter. It is an everchanging and never lasting thing. God's opinion is eternal. So, the arguments of not thin enough, smile not straight enough, face not clear enough, not pretty enough all fall away when we realize that God created us as His masterpiece. Just like the rose. Just like the fog hugging the hills. Just like a newborn baby. All masterpieces. All unique. No arguments the world can throw at us can stick. We are beautiful. Glorious. Simply because we came from the Father's hand.

I returned home to SLO, and there was the sun. Again, in an instant, it reappeared. For us and our struggles, we just need to return to truth. The truth brings the light back into our lives. Whether our struggle is over beauty or something else, God's word is the answer. If we look anywhere else, we find ourselves in the fog.