Beautiful...

Recently I've made a conscious decision to spend less time in front of the tv. For those of you who know me, this is a big step in my life as I waste a lot of time at home just watching tv, doing nothing. If you didn't know that, well, now you do! As a result of this, I've spent a lot more time reading. So much time, in fact, that I just finished my 3rd book. In a month. At this rate, I'll have read every book on my bookshelves by May :-)

The books I've read most recently, however, have spoken to the very depths of my soul. In both, "Captivating" (John and Stasi Eldredge) and "Do You Think I'm Beautiful?" (Angela Thomas) the authors explore the desire every woman has to be seen; to be captivating; to be loved. They write about how, as women, we spend our lives searching for that one person to answer our deepest question: Am I beautiful? But the answer cannot be found in a man. There is One to Whom we can look for the answer. God has been waiting patiently, inviting us to a deep, intimate relationship with Him. In God alone can we find that we are captivating. I love that word, by the way. Captivating. It says so much more to me than the word beautiful, and maybe that's because of how the world as skewed the term. But to be captivating. It goes so much more than skin deep. To put it in the terms Stasi Eldredge uses in "Captivating", a woman who is truly beautiful is at rest with her Lord. She is comfortable with who He made her to be. She has sat at the feet of Jesus and she glows within His presence.

In "Captivating", the authors also write that as women, God has given us a higher calling. We, as well as men, are His image bearers. God has made each one of us in His likeness. Men are to represent God as Warriors. As His strength. Women are to show the tender, intimate, relational side of God. But here is quite possibly one of my favorite passages in this book:

"It is nearing the end of the sixth day, the end of the Creator's great labor, as Adam steps forth, the image of God, the triumph of his work. He alone is pronounced the son of God. Nothing in creation even comes close. Picture Michelangelo's David. He is...magnificent. Truly, masterpiece seems complete. And yet, the Master says that something is not good, not right. Something is missing...and that something is Eve.

      And the Lord God cast a deep slumber on the human, and he slept, and He took one of his ribs and closed over the flesh where it had been, and the Lord God built the rib He had taken from the human into a woman and He brought her to the human (Gen 2:21-23)

"She is the crescendo, the final, astonishing work of God. Woman. In one last flourish creation comes to a finish not with Adam, but with Eve. She is the Master's finishing touch." "Captivating, John and Stasi Eldredge, p. 25)

The Eldredge's go on to say that Eve (women) was God's piece de resistance. The crowning touch of Creation. We have an important role to play in God's story.

In Angela Thomas' book, "Do You Think I'm Beautiful?", she explores our desire to be truly known. To be loved, wholly and completely, unconditionally, no strings attached. In Psalm 45:10-11 it says: Listen, O daughter, consider and give ear; 
Forget your people and your father's house.
The king is enthralled by  your beauty;
honor him, for he is your lord.

The King is enthralled by your beauty. Yours. And mine. He is captivated, smitten, fascinated, spellbound and delighted by me. Me? It's a concept I'm still trying to wrap my head around. God doesn't just love me, He is in love with me. "God's love for you in passionate and pure and without reservation. He never holds back or plays games with your heart...This kind of love does not stand you up. He always shows up, always remembers, and always keeps His promises. God's love is unrelenting. He does not turn away even if you do...God has seen you across the room, and He cannot take His eyes off you...The love that God has for us is the love your soul was made for. It is an intimate, vulnerable, completing kind of love." (Beautiful, Angela Thomas)

Truly, I have not completely grasped all of these concepts. Intellectually, I know them to be true, but in my heart of hearts I can't honestly say that I believe them to be true for me. But I am getting there. To know that I am truly loved by the Creator of all things, that I matter to the God of the universe, that my miniscule problems are important to Him, that He sees me as beautiful, as captivating; I could rest in that knowledge.