Beauty to unveil

GIG, I major laughed at the first line of the song. ^_^





I’m saying sorry in advance cos this won’t always go to plan
Though we don’t mean to take our love for granted
It's in our nature to forget what matters

How when the going is getting tough
And we’re all about giving up
Things that we never thought we’d say, gonna say them
Games that we never thought we’d play, gonna play them

It ain’t perfect, but it’s worth it
And it’s always getting better
It’s gonna take some time to get it right

Cause I’m still learning the art of love
I’m still trying to not mess up
So whenever I stumble let me know
You need to spell it out
You need to spell it out
You need to spell it out
You need to spell it out for me
Cause I’m still trying to learn the art of love

If I forget to get the door
Remind you that you’re beautiful
I know my detail requires more attention
If I ever hurt you it’s not my intention

Cause we’re gonna make our mistakes
Find out how much your heart can take
But I know that you got my back
And baby I got yours

Cause I’m still learning the art of love
I’m still trying to not mess up
So whenever I stumble let me know
You need to spell it out
You need to spell it out
You need to spell it out
You need to spell it out for me
Cause I'm still trying to learn the art of love

Sometimes I’m gonna miss
I’m still learning how to give
I’m not giving up
I’m still learning how to love
Learning how to love…
Learning how to love

Cause I’m still learning the art of love
I’m still trying to not mess up
So whenever I stumble let me know
You need to spell it out
You need to spell it out
You need to spell it out
You need to spell it out for me
Cause I'm still trying to learn the art of love
(The art of love)

Still learning (art of love)
Still learning (art of love)
Still learning (art of love)
Still trying to learn the art of love
Still learning, I'm still learning (art of love)
Still learning (art of love)
I'm gonna get it sometimes, cause I'm still learning
Still learning (art of love)
Still learning (art of love)
Still learning (art of love)
The art art of love

Aiyo. I don't even know where to start. "Captivating" is an amazing book; filled with the author's honesty and words of the Holy Spirit. Reading it has been wonderful and healing...but when it is understood and used by the right people as a tool to minister it is amplified a whole lot more.

I was sharing my favourite chapter in the whole book with bestie tonight and to help me remember God's goodness to me, I will type it out here:

The essence of a man
The essence of a man is strength. A man is meant to be the incarnation- our experience in human form- of our warrior God. A God who comes through for us. 


"Who is this coming from Edom, from Bozrah, with his garments stained crimson? Who is this robed in splendour, striding forward in the greatness of his strength? 'It is I, speaking in righteousness, mighty to save.'" (Isa 63:1)


To experience the strength of a man is to have him speak on our behalf. For when men abuse with words, we are pierced. Their strength has wounded us. When they are silent, we are starved. They have offered no strength; they have abandoned us. But when they speak with us, hear us, offer their words to us and on our behalf, something in our hearts is able to rest. "How are you?" is one of the simplest and most loving questions John ever asks me. 


We long for the protection masculine strength offers. To have them shield us from physical harm, yes. But to also have them shield us from emotional harm and spiritual attack. To intercede for us in a relationship which has become hurtful. A friend was being verbally abused and manipulated by her mother over the phone, repeatedly. Finally, one night her husband took the phone and spoke to her mother. "You cannot talk to my wife this way. I will not allow it. You may not call again until you are ready to be kind." He did for her what she was, at that time unable to do for herself and she was grateful. 


As women we long for someone strong to stand between us and the vicious assaults of our Enemy. One weary night I had gone to bed early, overcome with a sense of despair and hopelessness. I felt pounded down, beyond saving, and worthy of condemnation. I lay still, engulfed in grief. Suddenly, John was at my bedside. He was angry, but not at me. John recognised the hand of our enemy. He began to take authority over me as my husband and forcefully commanded the minions of Satan to release me; he commanded them to be silent, and sent them to the throne of Jesus for judgment. When he began to pray for me, I was embarrassed, when he continued I began to feel lighter. When he finished, tears were streaming down my face and my hands were raised to God in Holy gratitude and joyful worship. I had gone to bed filled with unrelenting sorrow. I ended the night belting out heartfelt songs of praise. 


Strength is what the world longs to experience from a man. Now-isn't it obvious that we don't mean big muscles? Of course a man might like to work out at the gym, but if he is only physically strong, he is a hollow man. Are we satisfied as a woman with that kind of man? On the other hand, our man might prefer to read or play an instrument. Does that in any way diminish the strength of his soul? Not at all. The strength of a man is first a soulish strength- a strength of heart. And yes, as he lives it out, owns it, inhabits his strength, he does become more handsome. More attractive. As the fruit of an inner reality. 


So then you can see that when we speak about the essence of a woman-we don't mean "the perfect figure". The beauty of a woman is first a soulish beauty. We know- it's a harder jump to make. We've lived so long under the pressure to be beautiful. But stay with the thought for a moment, because it will really help. The beauty of a woman is first a soulful beauty. And yes, as we live it out, own it, inhabit our beauty, we do become more lovely, more alluring. Our true self becomes reflected in our appearance. But it flows from the inside out. 


The essence of a woman:
The essence of a woman is beauty. She is meant to be the incarnation -our experience in human form-of a captivating God. A God who invites us. 


"Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters. Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and your soul will delight in the richest of fare." (Isa 55:1-2)


"You have stolen my heart, my sister, my bride; you have stolen my heart with one glance of your eyes, with one jewel of your necklace... you are a garden fountain, a well of flowing water streaming down from Lebanon." (Song of Solomon 4:9,15)


Beauty is what the world longs to experience from a woman. We know that. Somewhere down deep, we know it to be true. Most of our shame comes from this knowing and feeling that we have failed here. So listen to this: beauty is an essence that dwells in every woman. It was given to her by God. It was given to you. 


Surely you would agree that God is nothing if not beautiful. All around us God's creation shouts of his beauty and his goodness. The silhouette of lace on a barren tree draped with ice, the rays of sun streaming forth from a billowing cloud, the sound of a brook trickling over smooth stones...The coming of spring after a hard winter is almost too glorious for a soul to bear. God's beauty is lavished on the world. 


Beauty is powerful. Beauty may be the most powerful thing on earth. Beauty speaks. Beauty invites. Beauty nourishes. Beauty comforts. beauty inspires. Beauty is transcendent. Beauty draws us to God. As Simone Weil wrote "the beauty of the world us almost the only way by which we can allow God to penetrate us...Beauty captivates the senses in order to obtain permission to pass through to the soul...The soul's inclination to love beauty is the trap God most frequently uses in order to win it. 


God has this beauty to eve, to every woman. beauty is core to a woman- who she is and what she longs to be- and one of the most glorious ways we bear the image of God in a broken and often ugly world. It's messy to talk about. It's mysterious. And that should not surprise us. Women are creatures of great mystery; not problems to be solved by mysteries to be enjoyed. And that too, is part of her glory. 


Beauty flows from a heart at rest
There are women whose beauty impresses but it does not invite, when you are with her, your heart does not rest. The reason is simple: she is striving. She is a perfectionist and her beauty feels tenuous, shaky. It is not flowing from her heart. It's almost as if it's forced, from the outside, through discipline and fear. 


June is one of the most beautiful women we have ever met. We encountered her a few years ago while doing a retreat on the coast of North Carolina. Her hair was long, swept up loosely and held by decorative combs.Her eyes sparkled when she laughed, which she did often, and her smile lit up the room. She was clearly in love with her husband, her face adoring as she gazed at him. June was at rest with herself, at home in who she was. Talking with her, just being with her, made us feel more at rest with ourselves as well. Her spacious, beautiful soul invited others to come, to be, to taste and see that the Lord is good, whatever was happening in your life. She wept at the retreat. She laughed at the retreat. She was gloriously alive and in love, both with her husband and with the God of the universe. And June was about seventy five years old. 


Beauty indwells in every woman. We've seen it so many times, like a shy doe, it reveals itself for a moment, then fades back into cover. Usually it comes when she doesn't it, when she isn't trying to make it come. Rather something is happening that allows her defences to come down for a moment. For instance, when someone is listening. She knows that she matters. Someone cares about her heart, wants to know her. Her beauty emerges as if from a veil.So the choice a woman makes is not to conjure beauty, but to let her defences down. To choose to set aside her normal means of survival and just let her heart show up. Beauty comes with it. 


To have a gentle and quiet spirit is to have a heart of faith, a heart that trusts in God, a spirit that has been quieted by His love and filled with His peace. Not a heart that is striving and restless. A woman in her glory, a woman of beauty, is a woman who is not striving to become beautiful or worthy or enough. She knows in her queit center where God dwells that he finds her beautiful, has deemed her worthy and in him she is enough. A woman of true beauty is a woman who in the depths of her soul is at rest, trusting God because she has come to know him to be worthy of her trust. She exudes a sense of calm, a sense of rest, and invites those around her to rest as well. She speaks comfort; she knows that we live in a world at war, that we have a vicious enemy and our journey is through a broken world. But she also knows that because of God, all is well, that all will be well. A woman of true beauty offers others the grace to be and the room to become. In her presence, we can release the tension and pressure that so often grips our hearts. We can also breathe in the truth that God loves us and He is good. It is one of life's greatest gifts.


A woman who is hiding invites others to do the same. "Don't be vulnerable. Hide yourself" A woman who makes herself vulnerable and available for intimacy invites others to do the same. After all, Eve is the incarnation of the heart of God for intimacy. She says to the world, through her invitation to relationship" You are wanted here. We want to know you. Come in. Share yourself. Be enjoyed. Enjoy me as I share myself." A woman who is controlling cannot invite others to rest, to be known. It won't feel safe there. 


A woman who is unveiling her beauty is inviting others to life. She risks being vulnerable; exposing her true heart and inviting others to share theirs. You see, ultimately a woman invites us to know God. To experience through her that God is merciful. That He is tender and kind. That God longs for us- to be known by us and to know us. She invites us to experience that God is good, deep, lovely, alluring, captivating. 


Of course it feels risky
The scariest thing for a man is to offer his strength in situations where he doesn't know if it will make any difference. Or worse, that he will fail. Remember a man's deepest question is "Do I have what it takes?" Failure says "no" and that is why most men avoid any situation where they might fail. They fear exposure. They fear it will be discovered that they are not a man. A man's basic sin is his choice to offer strength only in those situations where he knows things will go well. And so repentance for a man is entering into the very situations that he fears and offering his strength anyway. 


In the same way, the scariest thing for women is to offer our beauty into situations where we don't know if it will make any difference. Or worse, that we will be rejected. For our question is "Am I lovely?" And to be rejected is to hear a resounding "no". A woman doesn't want to offer her beauty unless she is guaranteed that it will be well received. But life offers no such guarantees. We too must take risks. 


We have all heard it said that a woman is most beautiful when she is in love. It's true. You've seen it yourself. When a woman knows that she is loved, and loved deeply, she glows from the inside. This radiance stems from a heart that has had its deepest questions answered "Am I lovely? Am I worth fighting for? Have I been and will I continue to be romanced?" When these questions are answered, yes, a restful quiet spirit settles in a woman's heart. 


And every woman can have these questions answered. Yes. You have been and you will continue to be romanced all your life. Yes, our God finds you lovely. Jesus has moved Heaven and earth to win you for himself. He will not rest until you are completely His. The King is enthralled by your beauty. He finds you captivating. Beauty flows from a heart that is alive.