Can turning toward God make me radiant?
Your wickedness will bring its own punishment. Your turning from me will shame you. You will see what an evil, bitter thing it is to abandon the Lord your God and not to fear him. I, the Lord, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, have spoken!
Jeremiah 2:19, NLT
Let’s face it, putting our faith in God requires courage. If we learn what God likes and try to lessen the din of what others want us to be, we’ll risk being different. And some kinds of different aren’t always celebrated.
When I was a new believer, a verse a lot like this one encouraged me. It’s from Psalm thirty-four verse five, and it says: “Those who look to him for help will be radiant with joy; no shadow of shame will darken their faces” (Psalm 34:5).
So when we put that verse and this verse together, we see that it’s a pretty simple choice—turn toward God and be radiant. Turn away and find shame. While that may sound pretty black-and-white, it’s sure easier than trying to live up to all the conflicting ideas about what our culture honors or shames.
With God, there’s one way to find honor: to honor him.
ACT
Take a photo of something beautiful and set it as your phone’s home screen image. Whenever you look at your phone, think of looking toward the creator of that beauty, and celebrate that he made you, too.
pray
Dear Lord, thank you that shame isn’t lurking around every corner—with some new influencer showing me what’s desirable and how I am maybe not. Thank you that all I need to do today to be radiant with honor and joy is turn my face to you!