Day 3 - The Desire for Beauty

"Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart."

(Psalm 37:4) 

In the depths of woman's heart there is a desire to be seen as beautiful. We long to be cherished and loved. We long for someone to say to us, "You are beautiful my love" (Song of Solomon 1:15). We desire to be known, not just as a beautiful form, but as a beautiful person. We long for someone to see the interior unseen beauty of our soul and recognize us as perfectly made. 

Our culture is obsessed with the exterior image, but why? The root of our obsession is the desire for beauty that God placed in our hearts. The truth is that this desire can only be fulfilled by the One who placed it there. God made woman to desire beauty because He created her soul to be perfect. God created us to be made perfect in virtue and allow the interior depths of our souls to shine forth and reveal to the world the beauty of His creation. Above all else, it is God who will fulfill the desire of our hearts for beauty. It is in Him that we find true beauty. He is the One who can satisfy our heart's longing to hear the words, "You are beautiful my love." 

Our desire for beauty is good. What we do with that desire is up to us. Each day we make a decision on how we will fulfill the desire for beauty. It is easy to make the decision to focus on the exterior. Everywhere we look on social media, magazines, movies, etc., we are encouraged to make what we look like on the outside the focus of our attention. Culture has a way of hijacking truth. We are made to believe that the desire of our heart will be fulfilled by becoming more thin, wearing more makeup or having the right clothes. That is not to say that culture is evil, but that we are lost on the road to the fulfillment of our heart's desire. We are settling for less than for what we were made.

Even when man comes to appreciate our true beauty, their love is made to draw us even deeper into the heart of God and to help us to become perfect.  We will never find the complete satisfaction of our hearts desire for beauty without the Creator of beauty. Yet, we continue to settle for less than complete fulfillment because we get lost in the fleeting contentment that worldly beauty offers. The desire for beauty is good, this Lenten challenge is not about silencing that desire. Rather, the aim of this devotional is to help us find the road to lasting fulfillment. On this road, we will come to appreciate our physical beauty as an expression of our interior beauty. 

"Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart." 

As we continue to give our hearts to the Lord, He will give us what we desire. He will lead us to believe in our beauty and to live as the perfectly made daughters that He created us to be. The desire for beauty is good, let's give it to the Lord and let Him make it something great, something heavenly. 

Today's Challenge: 

Consider the desire of your heart for beauty. Is your attention more outward focused than inward? Challenge yourself to make your attention focused on the interior by giving up one outward vanity today (small or large), and spend some time in prayer thanking God for the desire for beauty. 

In your prayer listen to "Ovewhelmed" by Big Daddy Weave. 

Today's Prayer: 

Heavenly Father, thank you for creating me with the desire for beauty. Please take my desire and use it for your glory. Take my hand and continue to lead me on the road to true beauty and fulfillment. Help me to "delight" myself in You. I give you freedom to change the desires of my heart so that I can become the daughter you created me to be. 

I love you, Jesus, more than anything. Amen.