Imagine you're standing in a field. You’ve just finished a full day’s hike. You look horrible, it just rained, and your hair is all askew. Your clothes are covered in mud and you may have a not-so-beautiful smell radiating off of you. And then you hear "you look great! strike a pose!"
Excuse me!? I am not picture-worthy! I look disgusting! Wait until later or at least after I’ve showered!
What others perceive of you is not how you perceive yourself. What you may find flawed, others may find as unique. But have you ever truly imagined how God sees you? How He truly sees you?
“You are altogether beautiful my darling; there is no flaw in you.” Song of Songs 4:7
I’m a photographer and what I hear 90% of the time is “I’m not photogenic and look horrible on camera.” I reassure them they look great, snap a couple shots, and show them what’s on the other side of the lens – what I see. Their eyes light up and they say “Wow! That looks amazing!” Their whole demeanor changes and during the rest of the photoshoot they’re relaxed and at ease and smiling for the camera.
God sees us for who we truly are: His workmanship. His gaze on us is never marred by our shortcomings. His desire for us never wanes when we ignore Him and decide to pour our attentions onto other things.
He sees us as beautiful.
And that is not by anything we can accomplish. We can’t make Him love us MORE and we can’t make Him love us LESS. His love is constant. It is never ceasing. It never fails.
When you’re feeling worthless and not enough, when you’re thinking NO ONE could ever love you the way you are, when you’ve given up feeling “beautiful,” know that LOVE and BEAUTY personified SEES YOU as lovely and beautiful.
And when you’re feeling down, ask the Great Photographer to show you what’s on the other side of the lens – what HE sees.
And believe me, you’ll be amazed at what you find out.
- Kissy Black
