One of my daughters is a beanpole. She’s quite tall and we literally celebrated when she broke 100 pounds. Not surprisingly, it’s hard to find pants for her. She wears a size 0. But this isn’t about fashion, or women’s clothing sizes. This is about the “undergarments” as it were (see what I did there?) to these issues.
There are two factors at work here. First, why are women’s sizes arbitrary numbers rather than waist measurements? Size really depends on the manufacturer of the garment. You see this reflected in the fact that the number assigned to each measurement has gotten smaller over time – a size 8 twenty years ago is a size 4 now. I’m sure there’s a marketing component – women are more likely to purchase something if they can buy it in a smaller size. But I think there’s still something more underneath that. Which is that women have an enemy (Genesis 3:15).
All these “small numbers” subtly suggest it would be better if there were less of us. So we diet and exercise, nip and tuck, in an effort to get smaller and smaller. Until we’re at 0. What does that even mean? Zero is a null number, the absence of a value. So women are somehow caught up in the idea that the goal is to be a zero, to be absent of value.
One of the enemy’s strategies is to suggest is that we are too much. Too big. Too loud. Too emotional. Too talkative. Too _____________ – whatever. It doesn’t matter what it is. Just that we need to be less of ourselves so that people will accept us, so they won’t be scared off.
At the same time, he also suggests that we are not enough. Not skinny enough. Not smart enough. Not pretty enough. Not educated enough. Not loved enough. It doesn’t matter what that is either. Just that we don’t have what it takes for people to like us.
Satan would like for us to be erased. One reason he wants to get rid of us is because we are beautiful. We are the crown of God’s creation, His masterpiece. And our beauty is a threat to him. He is jealous of it. Did you know many scholars believe the Bible describes Satan in Ezekiel 28:12-19? He is called “perfect in beauty”. Yet he became vain, and proud, and foolish and it led to his downfall.
Now how does God feel about women?
The earth was not good without the woman. Nothing else that God had created could fulfill the role that she was designed to fill (Genesis 2:18-22). Her beauty enthralls him (Psalm 45:11).
Your beauty enthralls Him. Too often we miss that God is speaking these words to us because somewhere along the way, our enemy convinced us that if we were unlovely we were unlovable. Two lies that we accepted as truth until they blinded us to our own reflection. We can recognize beauty in others, but we are blind to what is beautiful, what is captivating, in ourselves.
We don’t just sense beauty with our eyes. Listen to an arresting symphony that touches your soul and you will know that our perception of beauty isn’t limited to what we can see. Cashmere. A baby’s cheek. These are beautiful to the touch. Your most favorite meal – beautiful to taste. Your favorite flower. Cookies baking. Beautiful smells.
We long for beauty because God is beautiful. A stunning sunset. The ocean. Majestic mountains. Fields of flowers. Think about what He calls us to – unconditional love. Perfection. Forgiveness. These are so lovely.
God says we are more than nothing. We have incomparable value. Not because of our size. Not because of our external beauty. Our beauty isn’t limited to what can be seen – as a matter of fact the beauty you can see isn’t going to last (Proverbs 31:30). That’s why we’re urged to showcase our beauty that comes from within, the unfading beauty of the spirit. (1 Peter 3:3-4). This is the beauty that is ours because we are made in the image of God, who is beautiful. Our true beauty comes from being filled with God and reflecting His beauty. That’s where Satan went off-course and missed the mark. He became so enamored with his own beauty that it filled his eyes and blocked his vision of the Beautiful One.
So let’s reject his message that we should be less than we are and instead embrace God, who fills us, who adds to our lives, who makes us more than we could ever be on our own. Filled to the measuring line with all the fullness of God (Ephesians 3:19).
“Your fame soon spread throughout the world because of your beauty. I dressed you in my splendor and perfected your beauty,” says the Sovereign LORD. Ezekiel 16:14