The Bold, Beautiful, Blessed and Deceived

Today: Genesis 27-29

If there ever was a Biblical soap opera, I think today's passage might have been it. These chapters set out a pretty twisted plotline--a brother deceiving a brother (and his father, too!), a bait-and-switch at the altar, a wife who gives children to her husband but receives no love in return, and the beautiful girl whose guy waited 14 years to make her his bride (and did I mention that this guy was also the one who married her older sister by mistake?). It sounds a little like Jerry Springer, don't you think?

What's amazing is that God was in the midst of this messiness. He didn't cause it. But He loved these people with messy lives. He was with them. He blessed them. He saw them. He heard them.

At moments, all of us can find ourselves in the midst of messes--messes that impact us or the people around us. Don't be afraid to reach out to God in your dramatic, messy life. And don't be afraid to reach out with God's love to someone else whose life is a mess to rival a Jerry Springer episode. Love is strong enough to wade its way through messes--and to pull us out of them, too!

Tomorrow: Genesis 30-31

Inside-out beauty

Today: Luke 1

"You're beautiful," she said, "I saw you worshipping today and you just radiated with this real, genuine, inside-out beauty. God's beauty. It really blessed me."

She was a (non-weird) middle-aged woman who noticed me at church. I wasn't standing at the front of the stage...probably in one of the back rows of a 40-person choir. I wasn't wearing sparkles, bright color or a ballgown. But this woman noticed me for some strange reason.

This scene happened a few years ago and I still remember it. It wasn't the first time I heard that I was beautiful, pretty, hot, or gorgeous. I'm definitely not perfectly beautiful by the world's standards (e.g. I'm not 5'10" or taller, a size 2 with perfect hair, fake boobs and a perpetual tan)...but I'm not chopped liver either.

I think I remember this compliment partially because she said it with no ulterior motive (I didn't know her well and she wasn't a single guy trying to impress me). But I also remember it because of her strange-sounding verbiage--"inside-out beauty."

Reading Luke 1 today reminded me a bit of that moment. Mary encountered a similar situation with the angel Gabriel who told her:

Good morning!

You're beautiful with God's beauty,

Beautiful inside and out!

God be with you.

In no way am I trying to put myself on the same level as Mary. But I think the whole concept of inside-out beauty is interesting...and Mary exemplified it so much better than I ever could.
I can't imagine being in her shoes.

Can you think of what it would have felt like to tell people, "No, I didn't sleep with my fiancee--this baby is God's Son." Can you imagine the reactions people had to that statement? They probably thought she was crazy, lying or a slut (to be blunt). Pregnancy or sex before marriage was pretty non-existent back then. If it happened, it was definitely hush-hush and shameful. Mary probably received lots of dirty looks and snide comments. Some of her friends and family members might have disowned her. She wasn't perfect--she probably had days when she cried (heck, she was a pregnant woman in the desert with no A/C, pizza or DQ Blizzards on demand).

Here's her response:

I'm the Lord's maid, ready to serve.

Let it be with me

just as you say.

Wow. Mary's inside-out beauty was exemplified by her love for God and willingness to serve Him and His purpose. She was unselfish--risking her life and comfort to carry Jesus. But her desire to please God trumped her desire to please people. That's beautiful.

Tomorrow: Luke 2-3