I woke up on Sunday, October 14th, with absolutely NO intention of participating in this '30 Day No Make-Up' challenge. I loved that a friend of mine had started it, but I just dismissed it as 'her thing.' As my morning routine progressed, my mind kept going back to the challenge, and I just couldn't let it go. I stopped what I was doing and sought the Lord in it. I asked Him, 'Lord, do you want me to do this?' I kind of inwardly whined a little bit, and I came up with many reasons why I should not participate, and I even told God that I didn't NEED to. 'I'm confident in how I look God. I know I look ok without make-up, so why would You want me to participate in this?' And very clear to my spirit came these words.
'Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.' 1Samuel 16:7
It's so amazing that God would speak to us, using His very own words, huh. (A little sarcasm for you there.)
I wasn't quite sure why God was speaking this scripture to me, but I complied. I agreed to the challenge, as I was sure God must have just wanted me to be an example to the young ladies. It turns out, that was just part of it. God had something for me, too. He wanted me to see some things inside of myself. He wanted me to let go of the outward focus and turn it to the inside. God wanted me to look at my own heart. In just thirty days I found out a lot about my heart. I saw a lot of good, but I saw some ugly, too. I got a good look at my hopes and dream again. I saw my passion to love God and to love others the way God has loved me. I saw myself in His image; so beautiful, so equipped, so strong. But I saw some things that weren't easy to see, as well. I saw that I still, after trying for years to convince myself otherwise, care too much about what others think of me. I saw that I still have some selfish desires and that sometimes I look to my own strength to get things done.
I'll be forever grateful, and in Jesus' Name, forever changed through this challenge. Never again, do I want to look in the mirror and let the image I see reflecting back be the deciding factor of who I really am or where I really am. I am so grateful that God is doing a work in me and that He will never stop. God is perfecting the work He began in me, and I'm grateful because I can do nothing apart from Him.
1 Corinthians 10:12b (MSG)
'Forget about self-confidence; it's useless. Cultivate God-confidence.'
For those of you that would like to know more about the 30 day challenge, here is the blog of the amazing woman behind it all.
http://trulyloved.blogspot.com/
