God Made Me Beautiful

I recently had the unfortunate experience of being insulted by someone because of my physical appearance. The offender made a totally inappropriate, off-color "joke" to my husband, in front of me, to this effect(he said it in Tagalog): "Weren't you with someone else last time? The beautiful and sexy one?" Now I know some of you are thinking, why she should have slapped that *$#?* offender then and there!! She shouldn't have allowed someone else to speak to her like that!! Aside from insulting me, he made a reference to adultery and unfaithfulness.

Well, it's a common joke among non-godly Filipino men, however, this offender had the nerve to say the "joke" in front of me. I am thankful that I was "slow" enough to not get the joke right away... because I thought the offender was going to make a sudden turn-around with a compliment. It was only when we got in the car that I realized I had been severely insulted because there was no "follow-up" compliment. In retrospect, my husband tried to change the topic, maybe he was also confused at what was being said.

Why I am I sharing this on this blog?I am not here to bring out negative feelings toward the offender. I am not here to destroy the reputation of the offender. I just want to encourage everyone with the encouragement God has given me. Maybe what happened to me has happened to you.

After crying out all my feelings and hurts, I asked the Lord to encourage me with His word. The Lord reminded me of Proverbs 31.

Proverbs 31:10 says, "A wife of noble character who can find? She is worth far more than rubies. "

The Lord spoke to my heart that He sees my character and that is what matters to Him. Proverbs 31:30 says,

Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised.

The Lord also reminded me that I am His creation, I was made in His image, so I am beautiful because God says so. Why would I complain to God why He made me with brown skin, a small, flat nose, and large hips? What the offender said was like telling me straight to my face that I'm ugly. But God formed me how I am. And He made me beautiful. I do not live and will not live to please the offender's taste in beauty. Will I have a nose job, a bleaching job, and liposuction just because he said that? The offender spoke hurting words which hurt to the core. But God has turned it around...he turned around what hurt me by encouraging me to realize that my self-esteem need not be based on what people say to me, but what God says to me.

In the book of Song of Songs, the lover (God) says to the beloved (His bride/Christians), over and over and over again, "How beautiful you are, my darling! Oh, how beautiful!" We are beautiful in God's eyes because the blood of Jesus covers our sin. I will listen to God's voice instead of the voice of the ungodly speaking hurting words to me. The beloved in Song of SOngs had self esteem issues.

Song of Songs 1:5-6 says, "Dark am I, yet lovely, O daughters of Jerusalem, dark like the tents of Kedar, like the tent curtains of Solomon. Do not stare at me because I am dark, because I am darkened by the sun. My mother's sons were angry with me and made me take care of the vineyards; my own vineyard I have neglected."

She may be dark, but the lover (God) calls her lovely. Let God speak His affirmation to you. Even if we are not affirmed by others, even by our own parents or husbands, God affirms us. Always. The beloved even said in Song of Songs 2:1 "I am a rose of Sharon, a lily of the valleys." She was calling herself beautiful! This reminds me of Isaiah 54:5 " For your Creator is your husband-- the LORD Almighty is his name-- the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer; he is called the God of all the earth." The Lord is our Creator, and only He can satisfy our deepest longings for acceptance, affirmation and esteem. Before He formed us in the womb, He knew us. (Jeremiah 1:5)

God made me beautiful. Therefore I AM beautiful.