Love sees beauty

One of the sweetest things about leading worship in a church is having a perfect view of all the beautiful faces singing to God from their hearts. Sometimes there are tears; sometimes I see struggle on their faces as they pray. But I always see beauty.

I imagine God sees a lot more beauty than me, since He is also looking deep into the shining heart who wears a quiet face. Sure, He also sees more junk than I do, I can see a little of it. But if I am overwhelmed by the beauty of the saints from my corner of the platform, how much more is He? God is love--love always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

"I look across the room and I see Jesus in your eyes," my pastor said a couple weeks ago, beaming with her mother heart of love. She saw beauty.

When I see God's people during worship, I see weakness but also earnest faith. My heart swells like a mother who longs to encourage a struggling child. This is God--He loves to love, His selfless love is so abundant He pours it out on whomever will receive it.

Sometimes the faithful feel small, but His goodness is all around them and in them. Oh, with eyes to see, we would see His glory shining upon us! We would see the Kingdom of God already in our midst. "The saints in the earth, they are the majestic ones in whom is all my delight," the Psalmist wrote. If a man may take such delight in the saints, how much more does God delight in the ones He redeemed with His own Son?

As I was meditating on these things, I thought of the verse that says, "You are His workmanship." So I looked it up and saw--I hadn't realized--this statement appears right alongside those famous verses in Ephesians, "By grace you have been saved through faith, and that is not of yourselves, it is a gift of God; not as a result of works, that no one should boast."

I had a light bulb moment: We are not saved by our works--we are His work! What beautiful things He does! How wonderful His handiwork! Everything He does is excellent and good! Like that Kevin Prosch song says, "You do all things well! Just look at our lives."

And here is the rub, when these words are hard to say. We don't always look or feel like excellent handiwork. It's easy to look at a sunset and say to God, "You do all things well," but not so easy say while looking in the mirror.

Yet we must. What other choice do we have? Everything He does is good--goodness flows from His nature and character.  He is the definition of goodness. He cannot not do good! If we are His, then we are His work, and all His work is good, so we are good work.

To refuse to believe that you are a good work is to say He is not a capable craftsman, or He is not good. Are His hands tied? Is the One who designed the universe stumped by our problems? Certainly not. He is the visionary of all visionaries--He sees great beauty on the empty canvas, the half-finished canvas, the blood-smeared and tear-stained canvas.

Precious saints, how lovely you are! You are lovely to me, in your earthiness and foolishness and stumbling earnest. How lovely are you to the Father?

"How lovely are Your dwelling places, O Lord of hosts," the sons of Korah wrote in Psalm 84. Isaiah said the Messiah would be Immanuel, God With Us. And this is the already-but-not-yet truth of it: "the tabernacle of God is among men" (Revelation 21).

The Sons of Korah served before God's Presence in David's tabernacle. It seems like they were probably writing about that "dwelling place." Some translations change it to singular to make it sound better, but it is plural. God's dwelling places are beautiful. We are His beautiful dwelling places! And He fills the temple with glory. We are not so lovely on our own--sin distorts the image of God into wretchedness-- but the redeemed are filled with the light and presence of God, clothed in beauty, dignity and strength.

Precious saints, what a lovely dwelling place you are. How beautiful the Spirit of grace dwelling in you and covering you. Though you feel the brittleness of being an earthen vessel, yet the power of God abides in you. Just as an ugly face is beautiful in candlelight, just as a covering of snow makes mundane things beautiful and clean, the Spirit of God shines on you and clothes you in grace.

His lovely dwelling place is not an imaginary temple, a place far away, a place we go to when we feel spiritual. We are His lovely dwelling place, the home of God.

Father, I believe I am Your home, Your lovely temple. You make us beautiful; Your grace shines on us. Let me walk, now, beaming with confidence in Your grace. I repent for heaping shame on myself and putting myself down. I am Your workmanship, and You have good works prepared for me. Give me grace to trust Your work and Your Spirit in me. Give me wisdom to have confidence in You without arrogance or presumption in my heart. And help me, Father, to see Your people the way You see them, as lovely dwelling places, homes of Your Spirit. Give my heart delight in the saints, the majestic ones, so I can honor You by honoring them.
♡ Amen.