Beautiful

BETHANY TIPPIN

I turned the corner of an aisle in our local grocery store and practically ran into an incredibly beautiful woman. As my eyes slipped past her and my body adjusted the shopping cart in my hands, I saw her lovely daughter. I felt myself smile at both of them, and we all said, “hi.”

Next thing I knew, she was turning back toward me and said, “You have the nicest smile… and a beautiful energy about you.” Warmth exploded internally within me and I smiled again. “Thank you,” I replied, trying to decide if I should say anything else… by the time my sluggish thoughts caught up, the two women had disappeared around the corner.

I kept shopping.

And I realized I felt better than I had all day long.

See, self-doubt and negative thoughts had gotten the better of me. I was truly wondering if my time, energy, and efforts were making any sort of dent in the heaviness of the world. 

In a split second, a stranger realigned my stray thoughts. Suddenly, I remembered Paul’s words, “take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ” (2 Cor 10:5) and the next thing I knew, I was cataloguing truth:

• I am God’s masterpiece. (Eph 2:10)I carry the Presence of God with me wherever I go. (1 Cor 3:13)
• I am an ambassador of light, a beacon of hope. (2 Cor 5:20; Mt 5:14)
• God made me on purpose and with a purpose. (1 Pt 2:9)

I had such confidence of these truths for those women even though I don’t know them and only encountered their presence for a matter of breaths. Why is it so hard to hold onto them for myself?

There are several lessons, morals, or applications for this scenario. I don’t know which one is “right,” but I certainly hope we learn from at least one:

• Words matter.
• Seeing and acknowledging people matters.
• Smiling at each other matters.
• Your being is enough and it is beautiful. 
• Carrying the Presence of God is a high and holy calling. 
• He is in you. You will not fail. (Ps 46:5)
• I am loved.
• You are loved.
• We are beautiful.