The Outside Only Tells a Piece of the Story

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It's not what you look at that matters. 

It's what you see. 

Henry David Thoreau 

I see her leaning against the outside wall of the restaurant, not appearing at all affected by the darkness looming in the long, deserted alley. Her short, fitted skirt and wisp of a shirt reveal her thin, under nourished bones. 

Battered by the slanderous words of her peers, she no longer knows the truth. She succumbs to the lies.

Worthless. 
Never good enough.

If only she knew her real value. She is valued. She is wonderful. She was purposely made and God has a plan for her life. 

"For you created my inmost being;

you knit me together in my mother’s womb. 

I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;

your works are wonderful,

I know that full well."

Psalm 139:13-14

So often we are quick to made judgements on those we see living compromised lives. It's a matter of perception, but who am I to judge? It matters not where she has come from or what she has done. I can look at brokenness and see God's beauty. 

We each have a story to tell. And it is a good story. Some come from happy, functional homes having suffered little. Others are descendents of abuse and neglect. Choose grace. Do not look at the brokenness and forget to see the creation.  

"...The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart."

1 Samuel 16:

Until next time, LIVE FULLY, LOVE WHOLLY, REJOICE DAILY!