The Longing for Beauty

Devotional

Beauty is captivating in all its forms. From sunsets to mountain tops, flower petals to starry nights, we devote countless hours, years, and even lives to the wonder and pursuit of beauty. We write songs and poetry in devotion to that which inspires us with its beauty. We spend our blood, sweat, and tears in attempt to discover if we have any beauty within ourselves. We are a people marked by a need for beauty—an insatiable longing that can only be satisfied in its Creator.

For a long time I tried to rid myself of the longing for beauty. I tried simply not to desire it. I equated this longing within me to a pursuit of vanity that seemed only to end in destruction. It wasn’t until my longing for beauty began to find its satisfaction in God that I discovered God’s original purpose behind it.

The longing for beauty is an incredible gift given to us by our heavenly Father. Every time we look upon something beautiful we get a glimpse into the beautiful heart of God. Our God is a perfect creator who makes beautiful things. Everything he is and does is beautiful in its own way. So when you feel a longing to be beautiful or see beauty, you are really feeling a longing for the Almighty, Triune God. You were created with an insatiable need to look upon your Creator in all his power and glory that you might stand in awe of his indescribable beauty for all eternity. And you have a longing to hear the voice of your heavenly who calls you lovely no matter how you look in the world’s eyes or what you’ve done.

Psalm 27:4 says, “One thing have I asked of the Lord, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his temple.” May we pursue the beauty of God and live in the glorious freedom of boundless communion with him. May our questions of whether we are beautiful find total fulfillment in the perfect perspective of he who shines forth in perfect beauty. And may we find satisfaction in all that is beautiful by acknowledging beauty that exists because of our beautiful God—limitless and perfect in all he does.

Take time in guided prayer to look upon your Creator. Gaze at the beauty of the Trinity. Let him tell you how he sees you. Listen as he speaks into the deepest recesses of your heart and satisfies places the world could never even reach. He longs for you to know how beautiful you are to him. He longs for you to stand in awe of the wonders of his perfect, true, and unconditional love. May your time be marked by clear revelation from the Holy Spirit into the heart of God.