Beauty in the Lord

Beauty in the Lord by Martha Mazza

There is beauty in the Lord 

In the ways He grows us,

We begin tightly gripped 

To our ways and beliefs,

Creating a casing snuggly 

Wrapped and fit,

Like an alluring bud 

Before its blossoming,

He gently woos us 

To ease our constriction,

His love seeping into our hearts,

Unbinding the layers, 

We learn to trust,

Freeing the burdens 

We did not know we carried 

Like an elegant flower 

Liberated from its bud

Giving birth to dependence on His love,

His ways and beliefs

Creating a loving bond between us deep,

wide and everlasting

“…put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him.” Colossians 3:10

This beautiful Crinum Lily bud reminds me of how I began as a babe in the Lord, closed tight in the ways I tried to live on my own and in my own power. So self-protected, nothing could get in.

I was convinced that I was always right, that my logic and intellect were enough to equip me to survive; and I thought I knew what it took to thrive in life.

But then there was God. Finally something broke me. I began to see my response to my husband in our marriage. He did not deserve my heated and angered responses.

I wrapped myself tighter and tighter as my husband failed to treat me the way I wanted to be treated. In this closed state,  I was miserable. I had no idea that I was the one spreading the toxic spew of bitterness and anger around me.

God used my hurting marriage to bring me to take a good look at myself. I was afraid to before then, not knowing really who I was, yet knowing there was not any good inside. We were arguing everyday with competition and division.

As the Lord grabbed ahold of me through worship, the anger and bitterness just disappeared. The Lord just took it away. By His grace I began a journey of discipleship that changed my life.

As the Lord began to open up those tight places, unbinding what was bound, I began to trust others and the Lord. The beauty of who God made me to be began to shine. The blooming of His life in me was and is beautiful.

When I let go of myself and my beliefs and replace them with His ways, my life begins to change.

How has God’s love changed you?