It's been a cold spring this year in our neck of the woods so the bottlebrush trees are flowering later than normal.
I always say they should flower at Christmas time because their colours are Christmas colours. But they don't, and that's okay.
I was walking around one of the big parks in our city early this morning, and I noticed just how many bottlebrush trees there were. It struck me that each one is different, but each one is beautiful.
I wonder - do these trees ever worry that they're not tall enough, not pretty enough, not quite the right shape or size, not got enough flowers, or if their flowers are too small?
Obviously not. How bizarre that would be?
Each of the trees in this park has their own beauty, if observers will just appreciate them for their shape and size and diversity.
And I'm sure their Creator takes delight in them, because that's the kind of Creator He is.
He values uniqueness and beauty. He doesn't create cookie-cutter beauty.
He has created so many beautiful plants and creatures, and He didn't need to. If it was just about functionality, then they wouldn't need to be beautiful, nor would there need to be so many of them, nor so many colours.
He loves beauty, delights in it, but He doesn't measure it the way we do.
What if someone decided to cut down all the trees that weren't exactly a certain shape or size? I mean, they serve no purpose, other than to add beauty to their environment. What if someone decided that they weren't beautiful unless they fitted a certain standard?
How bizarre!
So how do we measure beauty?
Actually, a better question is why do we measure beauty?
Why DO we have a standard for saying that someone is beautiful or isn't? Why is it okay to judge or reject someone based on their shape or size, the colour of their skin, the shape of their nose or eyebrows, the size of their feet or the brand on their clothes? How bizarre - really. I mean, it's normal in our culture, even amongst Christians, but it IS bizarre and not Godly.
We have to get back to God's standards for measuring beauty. He's our Creator. He's the artist, the designer, the author. He gets to decide what beauty is - not us, not our culture not even our family. We have to get away from even feeling the need to assess or judge someone's beauty.
And we need to get free from someone else's judgement and assessment of our beauty.
In fact, we need to stop agreeing with someone else's judgement of our beauty. We need to seek HIS perspective, HIS truth because that is freedom.
We have to repent of that agreement with lies and our submission to standards other than our King's standards.
There is something very liberating about getting your understanding of beauty from your Creator and King. He has directed me again and again to these verses below.
Listen, O daughter,
Consider and incline your ear;
Forget your own people also, and your father’s house;
So the King will greatly desire your beauty;
Because He is your Lord, worship Him. Ps 45:10,11
Sing, O daughter of Zion!
Shout, O Israel!
Be glad and rejoice with all your heart,
O daughter of Jerusalem!
The Lord has taken away your judgments.................. Zeph 3:14
The Lord your God in your midst,
The Mighty One, will save;
He will rejoice over you with gladness,
He will quiet you with His love,
He will rejoice over you with singing. Zeph 3:17
Beneath the surface
Of my anxious imagination
Beckons a calmness
That is found in You alone
It washes over every doubt, every imperfection
Jesus Your presence is the comfort of my soul
There's nowhere I'd rather be
When You're singing over me
I just wanna be here with You
I'm lost in Your mystery
I'm found in Your love for me
I just wanna be here with You
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