He makes everything beautiful in its time. Have you ever noticed that certain plants bloom in certain seasons, yet we don't complain about it. We accept it as a part of life and we keep walking. The same should be true for the things we use as an excuse to keep from moving out of our comfort zone. Do you think a butterfly is concerned about what it looks like when it is time to break forth out of the cocoon? Does it ask for a mirror before it sees sunlight? Does it ask God for a test run before it spreads its wings by faith? Does the butterfly continue to act like a caterpillar until it "feels" like a butterfly?
Therefore, when God calls you to a higher level, don't shrink back and look for something in your past to disqualify you. Don't say well, Lord, if only I was shaped like I was ten years ago, then I can do _____ (you fill in the blank). Or "Lord, if I was only like this person, then I can do..." If he wanted you to be like that perfect idol you've created in your mind to keep from doing His will, He would have made you that way or asked the person who has what you think you need to do the job, instead of you. Why would God bother you, if you weren't His perfect choice in this very time, in this very season, just the way you are? People used to see the pictures of me from 7 years ago and marvel at my outer beauty. However, I know the inner pain and turmoil that I felt in that season. Spiritually unregenerate; a caterpillar, feeling like I was dying of heartache. Now, I may not be shaped the same way, but my heart and soul have been forever transformed by His divine love. Through prayer and the Word and fellowship with believers, I've been broken, restored, transformed and renewed from the inside out. At times, I look back and say to myself, if only I looked like that or if only I could be this way or that way but ultimately, I love who God has made me to be on the inside. And I realize how His glory on the inside has beautified even my outside. Therefore, I can't allow appearances or opinions to bind me from being free to be who He has called me to be. The Word says, "For I consider the sufferings of this present time, not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us." Romans 8:18. The inner glory is priceless! I am a total package, just as He has prepared me to be and I have to believe it everyday of my life.
So accept your life and keep walking. If you choose to be processed and make a decision to follow His purpose for you, then you can walk out His plan, true repentance starts and the change comes. Then comes the wings, then comes the confidence, and then you will see your innate beauty fly effortlessly on full display. And you will see that what was on the inside of you looks even better than what you could ever imagine. And the God-thing about it is, if you allow the refined inside to flow out, it renews, revitalizes and beautifies the outside in the sunshine of your divine destiny.
