Radiant Joy

Those who look to him are radiant with joy; their faces will never be ashamed. —Psalm 34:5

Before my first cancer diagnosis at age forty-one, I was often told how young I looked for my age. I think subconsciously it made me feel special. But a many-year journey through cancer has changed all that. Losses of things like hair, eyelashes, and healthy skin have touched the core of my identity as a woman, revealing the depth of my desire for youthful beauty. I’ve alternately grieved and feared, felt shame and sometimes even despaired over my reflection.

As a teenager I prayed, “God, please make me beautiful, and I’ll use my beauty to glorify You.” But now my grieving has prompted me to pray, “God, give me a beauty that shines and even grows through all of this and that ultimately points to You.”

Even as I’ve mourned the loss of my youthful features, I’ve marveled to watch God answer my prayer in spades. He’s slowly been freeing me from my self-obsession, working miracles in my heart and forging a new confidence in me that literally shows on my face.

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 “My Face in His Hands: Aging for the Good of Others” (Colleen Chao,  ReviveOurHearts.com/blog)

Scripture taken from The CSB