As God Sees You

Yesterday I had the pleasure of celebrating a dear friend’s birthday.  God’s interweaving of events in our lives has provided us fertile soil for forging a good friendship.  I respect and honor this woman for her character, dedication, strength, and her good humor when the going gets tough. She is a woman I look up to and am honored to call my friend. 

After fits of laughter over an un-needed dessert following dinner, my friend and I along with our beloved mutual friend (who I will blog on another time-be forewarned!), slumped our sorry selves in my car and made our way to a neighboring spa to treat the birthday girl to a facial. As I lay alone in my relaxation room, I anticipated the pampering that lay ahead.  Nature music, and white sanitized towels the back drop for an hour long escape into bliss.

The woman entered softly, in her lab coat and cushioned shoes, smelling of fine perfume and began the treatment.  The warm towels graced my cheekbone, leaving me feeling comforted like a baby and protected in the hands of my esthetician extraordinaire.

As I was drifting off into sleepy day dream, taking in the rich smell of my cucumber tea tree exfoliate something caught me off guard.  A bright light, with its bulbs glaring down inches from my eyelids suddenly forbid me to open my eyes.  The stool drug forward and her weight fell heavy next to the massage table.  “Hmmm’s” and “haww’s” interrupted my peaceful reverie as she examined my face far too closely.

“You have cold recently?” asked the Spanish accent, pointing out the dry areas above my lip, just below my nose.  “When the last time you have a facial?” she continued.   “What product you use to wash your face?”  (Do you mean before or after I collapse in a heap at ten p.m.?) I could feel the judgment seeping in. 

“You need one”.  It was not going to be a relaxing evening.

She went on to point out problem areas.  “Brown *age* spots”, “blackheads”, “open pores”, “closed pores”…and on and on and, I wanted the bright light OFF.

And later, much later,  the whole forty five dollar experience got me thinking about God’s character and what I love most about Him and to let you in on a secret, none of it involves bright examination lighting and over zealous estheticians.

The thing is, I know he sees my junk.  And it’s a lot uglier than blackheads and age spots, trust me.  He sees all the less than stellar moments, the short cuts I try to take, the patterns I repeat like a well stitched quilt; my selfishness, my at times proverbial un-weeded garden, and he loves on me, even if. 

And it’s really hard, sometimes next to impossible, I think to accept that.   The depth of His love for us as we scramble, and strive, and strain, and scurry, and stress, all while looking a whole lot messier than we would on that estheticians table under that high intensity light.  The anger, the jealousy, the irritation, the frustration, the insecurity, and on, and on and on.  Our human condition. He sees past it and instead tells us,

You’re beautiful.

You’re enough.

You’re accepted.

I have great plans for you.

I love you perfectly.

 I delight in you.

I forgive you.

I pursue you.

I long for you.

I will rescue you.

I will redeem you.

I have given my life for YOU.

~My prayer for you today, is that you would, at least a little more, begin to know and feel how God sees you.~