Reflecting God's Beauty
But the Lord said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am only a child.’ You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you. Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you,” declares the Lord. Jer. 1:7, NIV.
I was born with a dark-red, cavernous hemangioma (birthmark) covering half the right side of my face. It can’t be hidden by clothes, covered by makeup, or erased by lasers. When you look at me, it’s the first thing you see, and for some people it’s all they see.
As I was growing up I learned how cruel people can be to someone who looks different. But whenever I would cry, my mother would reassure me, saying, “You have this special mark because God has a special work for you.”
My greatest blessings have come from what this birthmark seems to signify to others. One summer my best friend and I sold religious magazines door-to-door. We’d try to keep pace with each other, but I would often fall behind because some lonely, hurting person would insist I come in. They didn’t need or want the magazine, they just needed someone to listen to their heartache. Many times that summer I held hurting individuals in my arms as they cried. I wondered why so many people would react this way to me. It didn’t happen to my friend. Eventually I understood. When these people saw my face they knew instinctively that I could empathize with their pain and loneliness.
This was where I learned that my birthmark could open doors for me to tell people about my loving, compassionate Saviour that would not open for someone else. Today as I work with young people I remind them that God calls each one of us to reflect to a hurting world His true character of love. It doesn’t matter how our lives have been scarred. We can represent His scarred hands and His gentle, comforting voice to the people we meet daily.
I love singing the song that tells how we will be the only Jesus some will ever see, the only words of life some will ever have a chance to read.
It is my prayer that when someone sees my face, my birthmark, that they will not see the scars, the hurt, and the trials, but rather a reflection of the hope and love with which my Saviour has blessed my life.
Lord, because I am created in Your image, help me to see the beauty in myself—and in others.
I was born with a dark-red, cavernous hemangioma (birthmark) covering half the right side of my face. It can’t be hidden by clothes, covered by makeup, or erased by lasers. When you look at me, it’s the first thing you see, and for some people it’s all they see.
As I was growing up I learned how cruel people can be to someone who looks different. But whenever I would cry, my mother would reassure me, saying, “You have this special mark because God has a special work for you.”
My greatest blessings have come from what this birthmark seems to signify to others. One summer my best friend and I sold religious magazines door-to-door. We’d try to keep pace with each other, but I would often fall behind because some lonely, hurting person would insist I come in. They didn’t need or want the magazine, they just needed someone to listen to their heartache. Many times that summer I held hurting individuals in my arms as they cried. I wondered why so many people would react this way to me. It didn’t happen to my friend. Eventually I understood. When these people saw my face they knew instinctively that I could empathize with their pain and loneliness.
This was where I learned that my birthmark could open doors for me to tell people about my loving, compassionate Saviour that would not open for someone else. Today as I work with young people I remind them that God calls each one of us to reflect to a hurting world His true character of love. It doesn’t matter how our lives have been scarred. We can represent His scarred hands and His gentle, comforting voice to the people we meet daily.
I love singing the song that tells how we will be the only Jesus some will ever see, the only words of life some will ever have a chance to read.
It is my prayer that when someone sees my face, my birthmark, that they will not see the scars, the hurt, and the trials, but rather a reflection of the hope and love with which my Saviour has blessed my life.
Lord, because I am created in Your image, help me to see the beauty in myself—and in others.
Used by permission of Health Ministries, North American Division of Seventh-day Adventists.
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