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CHAPTER 12
THE BEAUTY IN THE HIDDEN!
The Bible tells us that God is love and that we are to be imitators of Christ and conformed to
His image. We are to be holy even as He is holy. Jesus said, “Love one another even as I
have loved you.” He also said, “They will know you are My disciples by your love.” Do you
think He was speaking about us loving our friends, relatives and the circle we travel in? Yes,
but He also said, “For if you love them which love you, what reward have ye” (Matt 5:46)?
And, “Do good to them that hate you” (Matt 5:44).
We all have a tendency to encircle ourselves in our own little world with people we like the
most, and we don’t give much thought to anyone else. But saints, this isn’t Christian! We
are called to be disciples, different from the world! There is supposed to be a specialness
about us that makes us stand out. That specialness is being filled with God’s love. We are
to be His hands extended to a lost and dying world, and also to those in the Body of Christ
who are n need of our love, our touch, and our concern. This is God’s desire for us.
This is Christianity! We want to open our eyes and our hearts to a particular group of people
that Jesus counts as most special. Realizing first, that all that we have and all that we are,
has been given to us by the Lord. He made you just the way you are, and you are pleasing
in His sight. There’s something very special and unique about you. He made NO ONE else
just like you and He takes great delight in you. Each of us has been given a measure of faith
and one or more gifts and ministries to glorify Him with.
There is a HIDDEN beauty in some of our brother and sisters that we don’t always recognize
outwardly. Nevertheless, it is there. The sad thing is that we oftentimes don’t take the time
to dis-cover (uncover) that hidden beauty amongst some of our brethren.
For instance: those we may consider less attractive, those who are handicapped,
overweight to excess, those we consider less intelligent or less educated, the very simple or
the very lonely. Sometimes dear sisters, we tend to shy away from these people and give
them only a passing greeting, never bothering to touch them, minister to them, show love or
concern for them, and get to KNOW them or even pray for them.
I think sometimes we shut ourselves off to those most in need. And these are exactly the
ones that Jesus wants us to minister to. This is being His hands extended and showing His
love to others. Then why do we shy away from people like this? Because we fear the cost
of being open, the cost of investing our time on them or perhaps even being seen with one of
these dear saints. This is much to our shame.
I had two friends who were very overweight. Both of them weighted over 300 lbs each, but
oh the beauty that each one had inside of them; like a hidden treasure in their hearts. They
loved God. They had so much wisdom to offer and they counseled women so
knowledgeably. I learned so much from these two friends and they had so much to teach
me. I remember one friend sharing that it was so hard being heavy. She remarked that
people would stare at her when she went into a restaurant. The booths were always too
tight to squeeze into, and sometimes even the tables were uncomfortable for sitting at. Kids
would make fun of her, to her children, and there was so much rejection and pain that went
along with being heavy.
Sometimes in very simple people, there exists such a joy and genuineness that is so
beautiful. I remember when we were pastoring in our church in Rosemead, CA that one of
the members was a young man who did not have a very high I.Q., but he would continually
exclaim his love for Jesus to my husband saying, “Pastor Jim, Pastor Jim, isn’t Jesus
wonderful! I love Him so much Pastor Jim!” There was no façade that he had to overcome,
but instead he was able to have a true love and tenderness towards Jesus that was to be
emulated. Little Mike had something to give to us and that we could learn from him, if we
would take the time to pay attention. Oftentimes we lack this true love and humility and
tenderness in our own lives. We have been so programmed by games all our lives that we
have to be stripped of all that is phony in us, so that Jesus can produce the REAL in us.
Sometimes we shy away from people because we don’t know HOW to respond to them.
Well then, we should ask the Lord! It may be just a smile, a touch, an embrace, being
friendly or talking to them is all that He asks of us, and sometimes it is more. These people
are looked down on by the world and (even by the church sometimes), because people are
only looking on the surface. We have the opportunity to love these people for Jesus sake.
WE have the opportunity to see the hidden beauty that Jesus sees in them. And we must
remember what He said to us, “When you have done it to the least of these my little ones
you have done it unto Me.”
Jesus cares about EVERYBODY. He is no respecter of persons in this regard and He
doesn’t want us to be either. But He wants us to love especially these who need our love
and kindness so desperately. How would you feel if everywhere you went people stared at
you for one reason or another?
My husband, Michael, had a cancerous brain tumor, as I have spoken of in a previous
chapter. They had to shave his head for the brain operation and his hair grew back very stiff
and stuck straight up in the air. It was no longer fine hair that could be controlled and lay
down properly, but it was very course and unmanageable. He also had three or four
indentions across his forehead where they had bored holes in his head in order to remove his
skull and now there was no bone underneath the skin in that spot. He also had a reddish
colored line across the forehead as well, where they had to saw his skull in order to lift it
off. He looked a little strange and walked a little differently after the operation. People
stared at him wherever we went. I felt a little embarrassed but I had to swallow it and go
on. After all this was my beloved husband. But can you imagine how he felt? I had to
appreciate him for his gentleness, meekness and kindness which was the REAL Michael
inside. This was the REAL person that I married and the man that I fell in love with, not his
outward appearance or his ability now that he was incapacitated.
I got saved three months before Michael came home with this brain tumor. I was 23 years
old and he was 27. We had a 5 year old son, Steven. We had just started going to church
and the people were very nice to us. But then after the operation, Michael and I came to
church; after he had been hospitalized for 40 days, and the people treated us differently.
They no longer came up to us after church service to just chat with us; instead they politely
smiled and went past us. We never were invited over to anyone’s home for dinner, because
we were not like they were. They did not want to expend the energy, love or kindness to a
hurting brother and sister who were new believers in Christ. We had no family, no friends,
as we lost all our friends when we became Christians, and had no one to turn to for comfort
and consolation, or as the Scripture says to “bear one another’s burdens” with us, only our
dear pastor and one other couple that the Lord put into our lives at the time. We finally
ended up in a home church for awhile because there the people showed us more love and
concern and kindness towards Michael than they did in the other church we had been
attending. The men in this little home fellowship even took Michael out with them from time
to time to do landscaping with them, giving him some little task to do, and then would pay
him a little money at the end of the day, in order to make him feel like a MAN; having worth
and value. They showed love and tenderness towards him like I’ve not seen in most
churches today. They invited us over for dinner quite often and treated us as if we were just
like they were. They did not make Michael feel inferior or incapable or talk down to him.
This is true BODY ministry. TRUE Christianity; where we are concerned about the other
hurting person more than ourselves. Lord Help Us! We did not stay in that home fellowship
for very long however, because there were other things that occurred in the fellowship that
the Lord would not be pleased with. I say these things to try to show you that we need to
have this same love in our churches so that people don’t have to look elsewhere when they
are in need of the love of Jesus extended towards them. I am beginning to see and
understand that each person that we come in contact with, whether saved or unsaved,
seems to have a deep pain, hurt of some kind or cross that they carry all the time in their
hearts, and that we need to be ever so loving and patient with each other, genuinely
interested in the other person and truly caring for one another.
Jesus wants us to minister and touch the lives of people in need, as He would do if He were
here now. But He’s not, so He asks US to do it for Him! We are to esteem others more
highly than ourselves, and that means ALL others in the Body. Remember it’s not many
wise, not many mighty, not many rich who shall enter the kingdom of God. It is the meek
and lowly, the poor in spirit, the pure in heart and the repentant sinners saved by grace.
When you minister to these, you are ministering to Jesus. And when Jesus is ministering
through you, then you become more like Him and His life is more and more reproduced in
you.
HERE is where we are most likely to find “Fullness of Joy,” that we’ve never experienced
before!
THE BEAUTY IN THE HIDDEN!
The Bible tells us that God is love and that we are to be imitators of Christ and conformed to
His image. We are to be holy even as He is holy. Jesus said, “Love one another even as I
have loved you.” He also said, “They will know you are My disciples by your love.” Do you
think He was speaking about us loving our friends, relatives and the circle we travel in? Yes,
but He also said, “For if you love them which love you, what reward have ye” (Matt 5:46)?
And, “Do good to them that hate you” (Matt 5:44).
We all have a tendency to encircle ourselves in our own little world with people we like the
most, and we don’t give much thought to anyone else. But saints, this isn’t Christian! We
are called to be disciples, different from the world! There is supposed to be a specialness
about us that makes us stand out. That specialness is being filled with God’s love. We are
to be His hands extended to a lost and dying world, and also to those in the Body of Christ
who are n need of our love, our touch, and our concern. This is God’s desire for us.
This is Christianity! We want to open our eyes and our hearts to a particular group of people
that Jesus counts as most special. Realizing first, that all that we have and all that we are,
has been given to us by the Lord. He made you just the way you are, and you are pleasing
in His sight. There’s something very special and unique about you. He made NO ONE else
just like you and He takes great delight in you. Each of us has been given a measure of faith
and one or more gifts and ministries to glorify Him with.
There is a HIDDEN beauty in some of our brother and sisters that we don’t always recognize
outwardly. Nevertheless, it is there. The sad thing is that we oftentimes don’t take the time
to dis-cover (uncover) that hidden beauty amongst some of our brethren.
For instance: those we may consider less attractive, those who are handicapped,
overweight to excess, those we consider less intelligent or less educated, the very simple or
the very lonely. Sometimes dear sisters, we tend to shy away from these people and give
them only a passing greeting, never bothering to touch them, minister to them, show love or
concern for them, and get to KNOW them or even pray for them.
I think sometimes we shut ourselves off to those most in need. And these are exactly the
ones that Jesus wants us to minister to. This is being His hands extended and showing His
love to others. Then why do we shy away from people like this? Because we fear the cost
of being open, the cost of investing our time on them or perhaps even being seen with one of
these dear saints. This is much to our shame.
I had two friends who were very overweight. Both of them weighted over 300 lbs each, but
oh the beauty that each one had inside of them; like a hidden treasure in their hearts. They
loved God. They had so much wisdom to offer and they counseled women so
knowledgeably. I learned so much from these two friends and they had so much to teach
me. I remember one friend sharing that it was so hard being heavy. She remarked that
people would stare at her when she went into a restaurant. The booths were always too
tight to squeeze into, and sometimes even the tables were uncomfortable for sitting at. Kids
would make fun of her, to her children, and there was so much rejection and pain that went
along with being heavy.
Sometimes in very simple people, there exists such a joy and genuineness that is so
beautiful. I remember when we were pastoring in our church in Rosemead, CA that one of
the members was a young man who did not have a very high I.Q., but he would continually
exclaim his love for Jesus to my husband saying, “Pastor Jim, Pastor Jim, isn’t Jesus
wonderful! I love Him so much Pastor Jim!” There was no façade that he had to overcome,
but instead he was able to have a true love and tenderness towards Jesus that was to be
emulated. Little Mike had something to give to us and that we could learn from him, if we
would take the time to pay attention. Oftentimes we lack this true love and humility and
tenderness in our own lives. We have been so programmed by games all our lives that we
have to be stripped of all that is phony in us, so that Jesus can produce the REAL in us.
Sometimes we shy away from people because we don’t know HOW to respond to them.
Well then, we should ask the Lord! It may be just a smile, a touch, an embrace, being
friendly or talking to them is all that He asks of us, and sometimes it is more. These people
are looked down on by the world and (even by the church sometimes), because people are
only looking on the surface. We have the opportunity to love these people for Jesus sake.
WE have the opportunity to see the hidden beauty that Jesus sees in them. And we must
remember what He said to us, “When you have done it to the least of these my little ones
you have done it unto Me.”
Jesus cares about EVERYBODY. He is no respecter of persons in this regard and He
doesn’t want us to be either. But He wants us to love especially these who need our love
and kindness so desperately. How would you feel if everywhere you went people stared at
you for one reason or another?
My husband, Michael, had a cancerous brain tumor, as I have spoken of in a previous
chapter. They had to shave his head for the brain operation and his hair grew back very stiff
and stuck straight up in the air. It was no longer fine hair that could be controlled and lay
down properly, but it was very course and unmanageable. He also had three or four
indentions across his forehead where they had bored holes in his head in order to remove his
skull and now there was no bone underneath the skin in that spot. He also had a reddish
colored line across the forehead as well, where they had to saw his skull in order to lift it
off. He looked a little strange and walked a little differently after the operation. People
stared at him wherever we went. I felt a little embarrassed but I had to swallow it and go
on. After all this was my beloved husband. But can you imagine how he felt? I had to
appreciate him for his gentleness, meekness and kindness which was the REAL Michael
inside. This was the REAL person that I married and the man that I fell in love with, not his
outward appearance or his ability now that he was incapacitated.
I got saved three months before Michael came home with this brain tumor. I was 23 years
old and he was 27. We had a 5 year old son, Steven. We had just started going to church
and the people were very nice to us. But then after the operation, Michael and I came to
church; after he had been hospitalized for 40 days, and the people treated us differently.
They no longer came up to us after church service to just chat with us; instead they politely
smiled and went past us. We never were invited over to anyone’s home for dinner, because
we were not like they were. They did not want to expend the energy, love or kindness to a
hurting brother and sister who were new believers in Christ. We had no family, no friends,
as we lost all our friends when we became Christians, and had no one to turn to for comfort
and consolation, or as the Scripture says to “bear one another’s burdens” with us, only our
dear pastor and one other couple that the Lord put into our lives at the time. We finally
ended up in a home church for awhile because there the people showed us more love and
concern and kindness towards Michael than they did in the other church we had been
attending. The men in this little home fellowship even took Michael out with them from time
to time to do landscaping with them, giving him some little task to do, and then would pay
him a little money at the end of the day, in order to make him feel like a MAN; having worth
and value. They showed love and tenderness towards him like I’ve not seen in most
churches today. They invited us over for dinner quite often and treated us as if we were just
like they were. They did not make Michael feel inferior or incapable or talk down to him.
This is true BODY ministry. TRUE Christianity; where we are concerned about the other
hurting person more than ourselves. Lord Help Us! We did not stay in that home fellowship
for very long however, because there were other things that occurred in the fellowship that
the Lord would not be pleased with. I say these things to try to show you that we need to
have this same love in our churches so that people don’t have to look elsewhere when they
are in need of the love of Jesus extended towards them. I am beginning to see and
understand that each person that we come in contact with, whether saved or unsaved,
seems to have a deep pain, hurt of some kind or cross that they carry all the time in their
hearts, and that we need to be ever so loving and patient with each other, genuinely
interested in the other person and truly caring for one another.
Jesus wants us to minister and touch the lives of people in need, as He would do if He were
here now. But He’s not, so He asks US to do it for Him! We are to esteem others more
highly than ourselves, and that means ALL others in the Body. Remember it’s not many
wise, not many mighty, not many rich who shall enter the kingdom of God. It is the meek
and lowly, the poor in spirit, the pure in heart and the repentant sinners saved by grace.
When you minister to these, you are ministering to Jesus. And when Jesus is ministering
through you, then you become more like Him and His life is more and more reproduced in
you.
HERE is where we are most likely to find “Fullness of Joy,” that we’ve never experienced
before!
| Women for the Lord www.WomenfortheLord.com "Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies." Proverbs 31:10 |
