Enjoy Your Beauty, Expression and Poise

Yes, you have beauty,

Worthiness of expression,

And poise,

Thank God for your discretion,

That you have no need to make noise.

One thing to aspire to – one thing that none of us is enough of – is the manifestation of humanity devoid of the need for attention...

“Beautiful things don’t ask for attention.”

— Sean Penn, playing Sean O’Connell

in The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (2013)

When we are hidden with Christ in God we have no need for outer layers, for significance of a worldly perspective, for the recognition we otherwise pine for. But, alas, we are so sorely influenced by our flesh. We rail against the injustices of not being noticed. We detest the injustice of others ‘getting the glory’ that should have come our way.

But in missing out on recognition we can be thankful that God always recognizes, which is a biblical truth we must frequently remind ourselves of.

Have you ever thought how blessed it is to miss out on recognition?

Have you ever connected the idea that slipping away from the limelight brings us to a genuine closeness in our intimacy with God? We know God when we set ourselves apart from the world. When we don’t need recognition from the world, God’s recognition becomes a feature that blesses us spiritually. We are better for having been touched by God.

But we also need to cater for those times when we are weak in the flesh. There is no need to get down on ourselves because we need, for a time, the recognition of others. We should just understand that, as our circumstances waver so does our spirituality waver. Understanding is simply awareness. We can afford to pour grace over ourselves.

When we can see our own beauty as God can reinforce it, and we can acknowledge our worthiness of expression and enjoy it, and we stand in life poised for the present thing, then we are able to operate without external recognition.

Again, when we are hidden with Christ in God we have no need for outer layers, for significance of a worldly perspective, for the recognition we otherwise pine for.

***

It is a beautiful thing when we have no external need; when God is our all. We are neither fazed by others receiving what we should get nor do we need to thrust ourselves forward. God has given us enough, and when we centralize ourselves in him we are touched in ways that make worldly recognition pale into insignificance.

© 2014 S. J. Wickham.