The balm and blessing of beauty …

A Facebook friend of mine who is a truck driver posted today about making a stop at a scenic overlook while driving through Oklahoma.

His adventure made me think of a few scenic overlooks I’ve stopped at during my own travels. It caused me to reflect how wise it is to make a place just to pull up and stop to gaze out on the beauty of God’s creation.

It’s important that we not understate the value of having something beautiful in our lives. I’m convinced that beauty can be a balm for some of our hurts.

It was for me.

During one the the most difficult and painful times in my life, God in His graciousness toward me, timed it that I would be moving to Hawaii at just that time. I still remember my first day there. After dropping my bags in my temporary lodging, I walked the block down to Waikiki Beach. Gazing out on the beautiful Pacific Ocean, I turned to my left to see the extinct Diamond Head volcano rising majestically at the edge of town. God had draped me with the astounding beauty of Hawaii at a time in my life when I desperately needed some beauty in it. It worked like a balm.

You know what I mean.

Many of you know the peace or respite found by escaping to the mountains or spending a day at the beach, nestled in beauty for a while. How refreshing it is!

Sometimes something as simple as the beauty of a vase displaying a flower arrangement can bring beauty into our homes that motivate a smile on our faces … and our hearts.

Indeed, beauty is a blessing that works like a balm, because it points us to the Master Painter of life and the beauty that is found in Him, who is full of grace and truth.

“Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous — how well I know it,” Psalm 139:14.

But of all the ways God has chosen to adorn this world He has made, He desires that WE be outstanding pieces of beauty in this world. Not by being physical works of art, but more like this …

“Don’t be concerned about the outward beauty of fancy hairstyles, expensive jewelry, or beautiful clothes. You should clothe yourselves instead with the beauty that comes from within, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is so precious to God,” 1 Peter 3:2-4.

The idea is for our lives to serve as scenic outlooks on the beauty of God’s creation. That as people pause with us, an internal beauty forged by Christ in us can be gazed upon and appreciated by others so they can see the work of beauty crafted by our Creator.

“For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago,” Ephesians 2:10.

A life that displays the immeasurable beauty of the love, grace, and forgiveness of God is one of the greatest masterpieces we can gaze upon. Is that what is on display when people pull up to the scenic overlook that is your life?

Scotty