This week I was told that I could captivate someone’s attention. That I could attract and captive their attention. For some reason this really threw me for a loop, because I have never thought about myself as captivating, or even that I could be able to captivate someone’s attention.To be quite fair I thought this was crazy and absurd. It’s a good thing I wasn’t drinking coffee in this moment, I’d probably be spitting it out in a lady like manner of course. In my head I was completely thinking this person might be a little crazy for thinking this, but then again I thought what if they were right and I was wrong? What if I am captivating and I don’t see it? Then again, this is me, you're talking to the kind of woman who doesn’t flaunt her beauty to get attention but instead hides behind it to avoid rejection. Who wants to be loved and for someone to be captivated by me, but is scared to step out in faith and risk being loved. Who is shy but wants to be brave at the same time. Who wants to captivate but doesn’t want to flaunt or misguide. Who is a hopeless romantic who loves a hero, and just desires to be loved like all women do. Who wants a guarantee that what love I give won’t come back empty handed. Or that if I give someone captivating love that I won’t get hurt. Yet I know that in this life there is no guarantee expect for God’s love. So then I’ve been pondering this question all week, “Does God really see me as captivating or not?” And then it happened I fell upon this verse again in the book of Psalms, “The king is enthralled by your beauty; honor him, for he is your lord.”(Psalm 45:11NIV). Thus, God answered the question I’d been pondering all week by reminding me of this verse. God reminded me that my beauty should not be something that I am ashamed of but something that should be cherished and loved. It is something that needs to be protected from the harsh things of this world. I was also reminded that beauty is not about manipulating or gaining control but true beauty from the inside out is about awakening my captivating soul to love God with all my heart. In the book Captivating, by John and Stasi Eldredge it says, “Every woman possesses a captivating beauty. Every woman. But for most of us it has been long buried, wounded, and captive. It takes time for it to emerge into wholeness. It needs to be cultivated, restored, set free.”(Eldredge, Pg.144, 2005). So the reason I shared this quote is because if God sees me as captivating and if every woman has captivating beauty then there is hope for me, for God to set that captivating beauty free. He can cultivate it, he can restore it, and He can make it whole. Then there really is no reason for me to hide from being captivating, but instead I should truly seek God to awaken the captivating beauty he sees within me, that I may not be able to see at the moment. Yet there is still hope for it to unfold. There is still hope for it to be unveiled, to be unwrapped, for it to rain down and to be seen. So if you're reading this I urge you to not be afraid of captivating beauty but to embrace with complete courage and let God awaken your soul to his steadfast love. References Eldredge, John & Stasi (2005) Captivating, Unveiling The Mystery Of A Women's Soul, Thomas Nelson’s Books, Nashville, TN, Strobel, Lee (2009) NIV Case For Christ Study Bible, Zondervan, Grand Rapids, MI,
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