Reflecting the Beauty of Christ

Last night my parents and I stood at the entrance to the walking path at the nearby fish hatchery and watched as a swan gently floated down from the sky, the setting sun spreading light through its translucent wings and setting them aflame with bright light. It gently soared to the pond below, gracefully tucking its wings back down to rest, and beautiful rings echoed in the water. As we watched, I thought, That reminds me of God.

I used to worry about beauty, and often stared at myself in the mirror as I asked the question that every thirteen year-old girl desperately wants to be answered (preferably by some tall sixteen year-old who has already gone through puberty): "Am I beautiful?"

After Jesus became my Everything two years later, those thoughts slowly fell out of my mind. He told me that I was everything He desired for me to be, and that was enough (when I listened.) I thought about my appearance as little as possible, deciding resolutely that if I spent absolutely no time on it that He would be more pleased with me.

I was wrong.

I met a woman today. We'll call her Brenda, though that wasn't her name. She was about two hundred pounds overweight, her language was coarse, and her mannerisms were far from graceful. She used to drive eighteen-wheelers and has had a difficult life, from what I learned about her, so she has more excuses than a lot of people. Still, I couldn't help but wonder as I watched her how difficult it would be for someone like her to reflect the beauty of Christ. It wasn't that she didn't have an attractive face, just that her appearance as a whole didn't remind me of Him.

Brenda is what happens when we don't ever think about our appearance, and there was nothing holy about her. The problem comes in when we don't think about our appearances in the context of living a life for Christ and instead worry about what people think of us all of the time.

If you've ever struggled in this area, here are some questions that Jesus has asked me over the past few years:

-Is what I am wearing today reflecting the beauty of Christ or drawing attention to me, either in a good or bad way? Because, ultimately, it's always about Him.

-Are there any appearance-related obsessions (hair, make-up, jewelry, clothing) in my life that Jesus might be asking me to give up in order to be more focused on Him?

This life is meant to reflect Christ in every way. I spend a lot of time with people who live very dark lives- some of them spend all day shut up in dark, lonely rooms with no one to talk to. I decided soon after I began performing that I would strive to reflect Jesus in everything- my smile, my clothing, the songs I play, the way I speak and act- and it makes all the difference. I had an elderly man take my hand the other day and just look in my eyes for the longest time. "Thank you," was all he said, but I knew that he meant it with all of his heart. It's not about me, but the fact that, because Christ lives in me, that means that the moment that man touched me, he had an encounter with the Living God. 

I couldn't care less about make-up or shopping. That's not the point I'm trying to make. The number one question to ask is this: Am I striving to make others, whether they are guys, friends, strangers on the street, co-workers, or anyone else, think about me or about Jesus? If that is what we continue to ask ourselves, the answer will begin to affect every area of our lives. 

"From Zion, perfect in beauty, God shines forth." Psalm 50:2 

The Feast is Already Prepared

 

Saturday mornings at our house are the best.

After a leisurely, sleeping-in sort of night's rest, I'll usually awaken to the aroma of coffee, bacon or sausage, and some delicious breakfast treat (anything from cinnamon rolls to sour cream cinnamon coffee cake to lemon poppyseed muffins to today's pancakes with our neighbor's berry sauce....are you hungry yet?) No matter how tired I am, I somehow end up practically unconsciously floating from bed to the kitchen counter to enjoy a delightful breakfast prepared by the loving hands of my dear mother. Well, this morning was slightly different- Jesus taught me a lesson before I even left my bed.

Last night I spend a good portion of the evening with Jesus, and we did what I like to think of as an "Open Heart Overhaul." Obviously, this was His idea and not mine, but I was so incredibly thankful for our time together and the things that He revealed to me. To be honest, I'll never be the same after our night together. In order for the beauty of our "overhaul" to take place, I had to come to Him. The problem was, I almost didn't.

It had been a rather long day, and my dad had built a warm, relaxing fire in our woodstove. After reading by the fireside for awhile, I was just about to settle down for a nap.

Come away with Me, He whispered.

"Hm? What was that?" I pretended not to hear.

Come away with Me.

"The Bible says that you 'grant sleep' to those you love!" (I always use that one as an excuse.)

You know, I should've thought about the fact that I was quoting the Bible to God.

Once He finally got me right where He wanted me, (which took awhile, let me tell you,) and our overhaul had begun, I began to realize that what I had desperately wanted- sleep, rest and rejuvination- was all to be found in Him. Not only that, but He began stripping away the layers of my heart in the areas that I had been struggling with until I was at His feet in repentance and worship. It was one of the most beautiful moments of this year (so far.) And do you know what He said at the peak of our beautiful intimacy?

I've been anticipating this moment all day long. I had this feast prepared for you, and I was just waiting for you to come to Me.

My mother's Saturday morning breakfasts are the best, but what if I never left the comfort of my warm bed to go eat them? Not only would I be left with a headache from oversleeping and a horribly empty stomach, but I would be missing out on one of the lovliest parts of being a member of the Durham family- the time we spend together.

That's what He told me this morning before I enjoyed our pancakes with berry sauce.

Next time He says, Come away with Me, I think I just might do it without so much hesitation. After all, He's ready and waiting for one of the lovliest parts of being a member of His family- passionate intimacy with Him, the beautiful Lover of our souls.

Mary vs. Martha

I think a lot of people have the wrong idea when it comes to the (true!) story of Mary and Martha. For quite a long time, I did, too-perhaps because of this little episode:

Several years ago, Lauren and I were selected to help teach a children's church
lesson to a group of elementary students. It was our job to act out a
little skit about Mary and Martha. Of course, we took it quite seriously.
Lauren came over the night before, and spent the night. Among our usual
activities (actually, I don't remember exactly what we did, but it most likely
included these things), like making elaborate crafts, chatting,
and sharing top-secret secrets, we managed to fit in a little time to
rehearse our skit. In fact, I can still recall sitting on my bed and
handing my hairbrush (a.k.a. microphone) back and forth. Also, I believe
our rehearsals involved a lot of laughter. I wonder why?

However, the next morning, the laughter turned to
fear. Nervously, we donned our rather humiliating Mary and Martha
costumes (which were large pieces of fabric to serve as head
scarves). When we stood up there in front of 20-s0me bored, glazy-eyed
children, and realized that the mic was now indeed very real, and no
longer simply a hairbrush, we rather frightened.

But we managed to say our lines with only a couple stutters. Then
it was over. I believe we had chicken for lunch that afternoon.

And Mary and Martha? Well, all I knew was that Martha was the grump, and Mary was lazy. That was about it.

Now, however, the story of Mary and Martha is one of my favorites in the Bible. Oddly, we seem to put quite a lot of blame on Martha for not seeking Jesus like her sister Mary did. But, between these two women, aren't we more often a lot like Martha?

Unlike other's opinions, I don't think Martha was trying to ignore her beloved Teacher. In fact, she was doing her best to serve Him.

On other hand, Mary was not a shirk. If you are really serving Him, you do not make the work harder for those around you. But, unlike her sister, Mary knew what was important.

We get so busy serving God, that we forget what is truly most important. If we want real power with God and man, we must stop fretting.

"Martha, Martha," Jesus gently told the tired woman, "you are worried and upset about many things. Only one thing is important. Mary has choosen the better thing, and it will never be taken away from her." (Luke 10)

What is most important is to come to the feet of Jesus, to listen to Him, to drink in His fullness, to learn of His abounding grace.

Thursday's Thought from Heros of the Faith

As we look out into society today, we can understand why so many lives are unhappy. They have never learned that the one secret of happiness is to give to the point of self-denial and self-sacrifice. -F.B. Meyer

Expectation

There was a warm fire roaring in the wood stove. Glancing out my window, I saw stars gleaming in the sky like diamonds and knew that I couldn't just stay inside and pretend like they weren't there.

I smiled and thanked Jesus for the beautiful impracticality of stars. It was one of those nights where you realize that the stars are infinitely innumerable and feel incredibly small (because you are.) Suddenly I remembered a dream that I had forgotten all about from several weeks before.

I was standing under the same sky in my front yard, except there were more stars- the entire expanse of the sky was completely covered with them- and they were brighter than any stars I had ever seen. In my dream, I watched as the heavens parted open. When I awoke, Malachi 3:10 was repeating itself over and over in my mind:

"...see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it."

When I looked up the verse, though, I realized that my mind had left out a very important part: "Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test Me in this..."

I've met a lot of lukewarm Christians. They're always nice people with nice houses and nice things and nice kids and nice clothes and nice food and nice entertainment. They're relatively happy people who take nice vacations and have nice plans for retirement. They pray before dinner and go to church on Sundays. Every time I meet one of them I think, "Well, that's nice. Great for them..." 

"Jesus, don't let me be like that, okay?"  

Most people settle for lukewarm lives, and if that's what they want, that's fine. Usually it's what they're expecting, so I suppose they can't imagine anything different. Well, for some reason, Jesus has given Lindsey and I this passionate desire to pursue Him radically and leave everything else behind. We're extremely expectant for what He's going to do with our lives. We're both purposefully in positions right now to be completely and entirely open to Him and devoted to Him, and it's a beautiful, beautiful thing.

Part of that package is being expectant. I can't tell you how many times I've heard things like, "Someday you're going to look across the breakfast table and wonder if you married the right person," and, "It'll be different when you're older- just wait," and, "Some days it's going to feel like God has abandoned you."

Well, you know what? If that's what you're expecting, then that's probably what you're going to get. We have a beautiful Father who honors our expectations, and I'm sure He really appreciates it when we say things like that about Him. But I happen to believe the Bible, specifically the portion in Malachi where He asks me to be so expectant that He'll even open the floodgates of heaven on my behalf.

I have no idea what you need right now- perhaps it's something as specific as enough finances to pay your bills or something as vague as a peace that will fill a void in your heart- but Jesus is aching to do it for you.

Expect Him to.

Be Thou My Vision

Be Thou my vision

O Lord of my heart

Naught be all else to me

Save that Thou art

Thou my best thought

By day of by night

Waking or sleeping

Thy Presence my light

Be Thou my wisdom

Be Thou my true word

I ever with Thee

And Thou with with me Lord

Thou my great Father

I thy true son

Thou in me dwelling

And I with Thee one

High Kind of heaven

When vict'ry is won

May I reach heaven's joys

O bright heaven's sun

Heart of my own heart

Whatever befall

Still be my vision

O Rular of all

Pick up that Pitcher!

Pour.

That's been a word on my mind quite a lot this month.

Mainly because of these two verses:

If you pour yourself out to the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then shall your light rise in the darkness and your gloom be as the noonday. And the Lord will guide you continually and satisfy your desire in scorched places. Isaiah 58:10-11

Trust in Him at all times, O people; pour out your heart before Him, God is a refuge for us. Psalm 62:8

Upon each circumstance we face each day, I have realized Jesus is giving us the chance to pour ourselves out.

And, as I have begun to (slowly) understand, and practice the act of pouring myself out-to others and to Jesus-I have found that Jesus does indeed fulfill His promise. When we pour out our hearts, we are indeed given light, far greater light than we'll ever get if refuse to pour.

Elisabeth Elliot says (and so fittingly),

Isaiah 58:10-11-Here, I think, lies the answer to the barrenness of a single life, or a life that might otherwise be selfish of lonely. It is the answer, I have found, to depression as well. You yourself will be given light in exchange for pouring yourself out, you yourself will get guidance, the satisfaction of your longings, and strength when you pour yourself out, when you make the satisfaction of somebody Else's desires your concern.

If we all begin to pour, instead giving a little drop here and there, I really think that our gloom would rise high as the noonday. And who doesn't want that?