A few years ago, I spoke at a moms group on the topic of ‘beauty’. While I planned to speak mostly about inner beauty, I didn’t want to seem completely disqualified to present the topic! So, in front of my mirror that morning, I tried to muster all the beauty I could.
I tried on several outfits, and critiqued each one from different angles. I fussed over my hair and makeup. I even used some new mascara that I had never tried. I did the best I could, given what I had to work with. Then, I told myself, “Now it’s time to focus on what you will say, not how you look as you say it.”
When I got there,
the leaders of the group graciously asked me to join them in the prayer room. They were so sweet in the way that they prayed over me that they even brought tears to my eyes. Then, it was time to go in.
the leaders of the group graciously asked me to join them in the prayer room. They were so sweet in the way that they prayed over me that they even brought tears to my eyes. Then, it was time to go in.
It was not until after I spoke that I glanced into a mirror, as I washed my hands in the ladies’ room. I was horrified! The new mascara was obviously not ‘smudge proof’!
I had black semi circles under each eye! I stood in shock for a moment, then I asked a couple of girls at the sink beside me, “Is this how I looked when I was speaking?” Sheepishly, they nodded yes. Laughter bubbled up, as I looked back to the mirror! I looked so funny with my two ‘black eyes’!
Since these women had never met me, they probably assumed that I ONLY focus on inner beauty.
Charm is deceitful and beauty is vain, says Proverbs 31:30. The word ‘vain’ in the Bible means ‘vapor’ or ‘breath’, which means our beauty isn’t something to put our security in. All women want to be beautiful. We want to look into the mirror and see a reflection that is worthy of admiration. But if we look into the mirror long enough, we’re sure to see something that causes us to be disheartened, discouraged, or even to despair.
Conversely, if we put our hope in God, who is a rock under our feet and anchor to our souls, we can laugh into today’s mirror—black eyes, or not. And we can laugh into every mirror of the future.