Trials, Do They Really Make Me Beautiful?

Beauty!

We all have a view of what we think beauty is and how we get there.  But may I suggest to you that beauty has nothing to do with physical appearance?  Beauty to me has more to do with character than physical appearances.  I have seen people that most would consider being very ugly yet they are the sweetest people and I would want to consider them my friend.  Then, on the other hand, I have seen others, that in the world’s standard, they are drop-dead gorgeous.  But to be honest they are mean as a viper.

Leaves

As I was driving to work the other morning and I was marveling over the beauty of the leaves.  They were different shades of colors, red, orange, and yellow with many hues in between.  I just love the beauty of the fall.

God has given us a variety of seasons to teach us lessons of His love and grace.  And as I was thinking about it the Lord brought to my mind how the leaves got to the point of this beauty.  The cold of the frost brings out the beauty of the leaves.  I know that there are different factors for when they change, what colors they become, and how long the colors last.  But for this illustration, I am keeping it simple because that is how the Lord gave it to me.  We tend to want to complicate His lessons rather than listen and take them at face value.

The cold that brings out the beauty of the leaves reminds me of our lives.  The Lord allows things that come into our lives that seem cold and they are called trials.  Those trials can make our characters beautiful if we allow them.  This seems rather silly but what if the leaves resisted the cold and frost and refused to turn the beautiful colors?  We know that the leaves can’t decide to whine and complain and try to resist change.  But God has given us the freedom to choose whether we are going to allow those trials to cause the beauty of God’s character to shine through us.  Or we can choose to complain, be miserable, and make all of those around us miserable.

Trials

I can look back at the trials that I have been through and see the difference between having faith and trust in my Heavenly Father or whether I became the fix-it person of the situation.  Isn’t that our tendency?  Or maybe it is just me.  When a trial comes I try to see how I can fix the problem rather than turning to God.  Trying to fix it ourselves is so miserable and we don’t grow through it and become beautiful.

I know that my goal in life is to give everything to God.  I want to allow Him the freedom to work in my life and the lives of those around me and not try to fix the problem.  For those who have children, I am sure you pray for them as I do my own.  But how many times when the Lord brings something into their lives that could help them grow and mature, we step in and try to fix the problem or take the problem away?  When I step back and let the Lord do the work, WOW, I am blown away.  He is the one that can bring about what we need and what others need without our interference.  Our job is to pray and then allow Him to accomplish the work in us.

I realize many times that I don’t pray enough.  The tendency is to complain instead of going to my knees.  Christ is our example and He spent a lot of time in prayer.  And I know when I do it does make a difference.  If we started to agonize in prayer as Christ did we would see the beauty of Him shining through us daily.  And this is what the world needs.

Dear Father,

Thank You for the trials.

Help us to realize our need for You more fully.

In Jesus Name,

Amen

Go to God with all your trials and let Him do the work.

Love you all.

Do you have a story where you trusted God through a trial and what work He did? I would love to hear it.