I Am Beautiful

How beautiful you are, my darling! Oh, how beautiful! Your eyes are doves.

Song of Solomon 1:15

Drew and Dana began marriage counseling with a Christian counselor soon after their move. Drew finally admitted to having an extramarital affair. As devastating as the news was, Dana expressed the willingness to forgive him. Her commitment to keep their family intact held steady. Drew wanted a separation, but he took no action to move out.

A few weeks later, as Dana returned from running errands, she neared home and noticed an unfamiliar truck parked by the street curb. Then Drew’s motorcycle in the driveway caught her attention. This was unusual for mid-morning on a weekday. 

I wonder who is here and what’s going on? Dana’s breath caught in her chest and her mind darted multiple directions in light of other unsettling events during the last few months.

Once inside, she saw Drew and another man making notes on a clipboard. They were discussing the cost to move her and their two young children back to their hometown.

The man left and Dana spewed, “What’s going on, Drew?”  

Sheepishly, Drew handed her a newspaper ad and answered, “I thought if it cost about the same amount to move you back home as it would to have this procedure done, you could choose which you’d rather do.”

Dana read a few words in the ad: “Cosmetic surgery...Enhance...”  That’s all she needed to read to understand Drew’s intentions.

Really? What kind of choice was this? He will keep me around if I have surgery? Is this what my marriage has been reduced to—my physical appearance?

Dana felt stripped of her adequacy as a woman. Hope shriveled. Another crisis of belief confronted her—would she trust the lie that she was unlovely—or resolve to place her confidence in God?

***

Lies breed fear. Fear chokes beauty.

…do not give way to fear (1 Peter 3:6b).

God calls us beautiful! We are lovely to Him. The beauty of a woman of faith is Jesus reflected in her, as Jesus is the radiance of God’s glory (Hebrews1:3). 

Take courage, affirm the truth with me and revive hope:

Lord, Thank You that I am beautiful to You. Help me to hear Your words of validation in my heart.

Karen Sims