"Everything Beautiful" by Karen Cone

Ecclesiastes 3:11 “He has made everything beautiful in its time.”

 

When my youngest son, Levi, was three years old, he asked me, "When I get big, will I turn into another person?"  Deep thinker, this little man of mine.

It's funny how God uses thoughts from my children to speak to things I have been pondering.  In this case, I'd been thinking that, when God created me, He had a vision of exactly who I was, am, and would be.  Even though I am marred by sin and in a fallen condition, I can rest in knowing He has a plan to make me into who created me to be.

There are a lot of things that I struggle to like about me that are not at all related to sin.  Many of them are part of God’s design for me.  Physically, I am short and have a small frame and am weak.  I don't like that.  I want to be tall and strong.  While I can take care of my body and work out to get stronger (and I do), I can't change the height or petite frame or even make much of an impact on the strength factor.  I have never even been able to do one real push up, not even ONE, and I do (girl) push-ups almost every day!  This is how God made my body; it was His plan for me.

Nearly every woman in American can relate to my struggles.  Most of us don't fit the body image presented to us by our culture.  I have wished at times that God had shaped me differently.  You know, a little more here, a little less there, maybe some abs of steel would be nice, too.

Have you ever looked at some of those Renaissance paintings of beautiful women (rounder, heavier, and paler than today's magazine covers) and knew you missed that perfect time period for your body type?  Do you spend time internally criticizing how He designed you?

I want to grow to like me like He made me.  I'm learning to drop the comparisons.  It is a struggle that may last the rest of my life, but I’m fighting the good fight.  I can't be her, and she can't be me.  Guarding my media choices helps, but the real work has to go deeper than that.  I can't go hide in a cave with posters from the Renaissance to feel better about myself.  The real work has to be an inside job.

My main purpose is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.  Physical beauty is not bad; it’s just passing away.  True and lasing beauty is something that radiates from within.  When God works compassion and gentleness in my heart, then I am beautiful. When I share His goodness with others, then I am radiating His light and life and loveliness. When I give a gift of grace, there is no Venus or supermodel that can outshine that kind of beauty.

My focus has to move from what I look like on the outside to allowing God to do His good work in my heart.  The answer to Levi’s question is this: You are becoming who God created you to be.  The Father is transforming you from the inside out.  You will not be a different person, but you will be different.  As a caterpillar turns into a butterfly, you will be a new creation, re-purposed forever for His glory.

Karen loves to write and lead women's support group.  She is learning to walk in God's grace day to day as well as learning to extend that grace to others.  You can follow her blog at karencone.org.

Click here to enjoy a video of "Beautiful Things" by Gunger

Uniquely Designed On #Purpose ~ by Debra Courtney

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Your Unique Design is Perfect for Your Unique Purpose

By

Debra Courtney

“Whatever I have, wherever I am, I can make it through anything in the One who makes me who I am.”

(Phil 4:13.) MSG

Potential is determined by the design of something. The bird can potentially fly, the fish can potentially swim and you...? Our potential is intricately woven into our unique DESIGN and our unique design is crafted according to our — PURPOSE. We come packaged with all the gifts, talents, aptitudes and abilities necessary to engage into our life purpose.

As believers, we have something extra. I like the Message translation; “Whatever I have, wherever I am, I can make it through anything in the One who makes me who I am.” (Phil 4:13.) MSG

Paul was speaking about the peculiar demands and hardships he engaged in his calling. He could have said, “Whatever I have, wherever I go (my purpose) in the One (Christ), (the anointing) who makes me who I am!” We are uniquely designed to flow with a certain "anointing" or divine enabling that comes from heaven. We are triune beings (spirit, body, soul) we have to be that whole person (physical, spiritually, emotionally) our Creator made us to be or we will always be lacking something. We will live with a hole in us; something missing. Never getting to experience all that we were created to be.

Romans 11:36 says: “Everything comes from Him; (design) Everything happens through Him; (purpose) Everything ends up in Him (anointing)”. MSG

Because God provides for His purposes, but not necessarily our plans, the tight places of our life often involve the mistakes we made. We have all made bad choices, wrong turns, and been in a hurry. But God factors in grace for this as well.

He told Abraham to leave his home town – alone, but Abraham left with Lot and his entire family and entourage. Eventually this led to strife and it caused problems for Abraham. Strife comes with the stuff we added that God didn’t give us. What is hurry? Sarah is hurry. We have to look no farther than Ishmael. (See Genesis 16 for this fascinating and heartbreaking story from Scripture.) However, this same Abraham is our founding Father of faith that still succeeded and was called the friend of God!

The beauty of God’s ways is that He makes ALL things work together for good of whom? “….that every detail in our lives of love for God is worked into SOMETHING GOOD.” (Rom 8:28) MSG There is no blanket promise in the Bible that all things work together for everyone….but there is a promise of everything working out for those who LOVE God and are conscientious about submitting to Him in trust and fulfilling His purpose in their lives.

We were destined and designed to succeed. We will “finish the work,” the purpose of our life, and hear “well done.” Ours is a life of destiny by a wonderful Creator. A unique design that is perfect and chosen by God for our uniquely special purpose.

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What about you? How can you see God's unique designs in your own life?

How do you see His plans and purposes actively at work through your life?

Debra Courtney
C4C Blog Co-Manager/Writer

Debra’s life goal is to inspire and motivate women globally to become all they have been created and designed to be by using the guiding principles of their Creator’s word in gaining wisdom, understanding their designed-given personality identities and creating their purpose!