If I am not beautiful by the world’s definition, am I still beautiful by God’s definition?
“Yes! First of all, He made you. He makes no mistakes. He didn’t make you and say ‘oops I better try that again.’ He know exactly what he is doing and found it beautiful. He said ‘very good’“
The queen of Sheba has a reputation for being very physically beautiful – but the writer of the book of 1 Kings made no mention of that fact. Liz Curtis Higgs says this was not the focus of her story. When thinking about her visit to King Solomon, what stands out is the queen’s inner beauty.
“Very seldom in Scripture does God ever say a woman is beautiful…Unless, frankly, it factors into the story somehow, and often it’s because it gets her in trouble. So the fact that our wonderful Sheba is not described tells us what matters to God was her search for wisdom – and even more specifically her search for Him.”
What can we learn from this Old Testament woman who sought out God?
Psalm 149:4 says that he will beautify the afflicted ones with salvation.
“What makes you truly gorgeous to God is when you’re covered in the grace of His Son. That puts a beauty on you that transcends the here-and-now. I know we are bucking the trend of an all-appearance culture, so we are swimming counter-culture to say, ‘My eternal self is gorgeous; I glow with the glow of Christ.’ Those are the things that really matter.”
Liz shares a story from her own life.
“Sometime the beauty leaks out. I spoke in West Virginia years and years ago and I had a young woman sit in front of me. She came up at the end [of my talk] and she said ‘The longer you talked, the prettier you got.’ I obviously didn’t get better looking.”
“It isn’t about the physical appearance. It’s letting Christ shine through us to such an extent that people are not even paying attention to our mousy hair, our thinning hair… the shape of our face, the size of our body. None of that factors in when the light of Christ is pouring out of you.”
Liz explores the story and legacy of the queen of Sheba in her book, .
Key Scriptures: 2 Corinthians 3:12; 1 Kings 10:1-13
Featured Songs: World Changers by Matthew West; Glow in the Dark by Jason Gray; Live Forever by Matthew West
