Here is a little something I wrote this past weekend.
This morning, I went to bed as the rooster was crowing at 5:30am. Why you may ask? Well, it is because our teams went to an all night prayer service from 11pm to 5am. This is the second time we have been to one of these. This type of services is apparently very popular in African culture. I am not a night owl whatsoever so sticking out this many hours when I should be sleeping is tough. Usually, by about 2:00am I am ready to call it quits because I physically cannot make it anymore. However, I lasted this whole service without nodding off, it was a miracle!
Around 2:30am, Pastor Sam told everyone to read Luke 1:26-28. I had no idea what he was talking about in his preaching at the time because sometimes it is hard to understand his heavy French accent. For some reason, these verses stuck out to me.
“Upon entering, Gabriel greeted her:
Good morning!
You’re beautiful with Gods beauty,
Beautiful inside and out!
God be with you.”
What a lovely way to be greeted!
So here is my thought process behind this. The Lord came into Mary’s life and shook it up. He saw that she was the type of beautiful he was looking for and decided to use her. God has called each of us here, on the race for a reason. He has seen our beauty decided to use us. When I say “beauty”, I do not just mean physical appearance, I am hinting at something far deeper. I am talking about our lives filled with God’s beauty. Our culture places significant emphasis on outward appearance saying that only those who meet the ridiculous standard of beauty are beautiful. God is not looking for this type of beauty he is all about the type of beauty that radiates from your soul onto others because it comes from Him. Those who dwell with the Lord, show it. Their light shines as bright as the sun and warms all those that come in contact with it. I strive to be this type of person, to radiate God’s beauty, a women of Christ who spreads light and beauty into all those around me. I want people to find me beautiful not by my physical appearance, but by how they see Jesus through me. God saw Mary; He saw her heart and worth and decided to use her. God desires this from each and every one of us. He wants us to become our child-of-God self, our true self, and radiate Him.
John 1:12-13 (MSG)
“But whoever did want Him, who believed He was who He claimed and would do what he said, He made to be their true selves, their child-of-God selves.”
