A beauty like Esther: A beauty like no other

Lately, I've been reading Esther's story for several times, just to find out the same messages God wants me to learn... Here's the specific verses: Esther 2:1-18 (NIV) 

Talking about Esther, we may all know what she had gone through and what was her final story. Yet, this time, I would like to dig deeper than the success of Esther who saved her people. This is about her beauty, and how it connects with our beauty as women. 

Through the chapter, I can conclude some important stages that Esther had to go through. First, Esther's story was started with the searching of a new queen for King Xerxes, right through the calling for all beautiful women in the region. They were to give all the best of beauty treatments (verse 3). In the midst of the searching, came Hadassah (Esther), who had a lovely figure and was beautiful (verse 7). The King noticed her, and she pleased him and won his favor by the first time he saw her. Immediately, he provided her with her beauty treatments and special food (verse 9)... and it wasn't stopped... not until she won the favor of everyone who saw her (verse 15). Up until this verse, I started to imagine how lovely and lovable Esther must be. I began questioning things like "How could she become that beautiful and lovely? What made her different than the other beautiful women? There must be a lot of choices for the King. Yet, why Esther?" 

I felt like reading one beautiful princess story. Just like any disney princess stories with their happy endings that became real, Esther was finally chosen to be the queen. The King was attracted to Esther MORE than the other beautiful women, and she won his favor and approval more than any of them.

As I continued to think about these lovely verses, I realized that this story has MUCH MORE than any disney princess stories I've ever read. I realized, God was truly there in the story. God was writing a story for Esther's beauty. All the stages above were also major parts of His wonderful plans... Moreover, the story is about A BEAUTY THAT IS UNLIKE THE OTHER. A different kind of beauty, where God is in there.

I've come to realize the one thing that Esther possesed, which made her become the most beautiful and lovable among all the beautiful women; it was God's likeness in her heart. It was God's favor inside her soul. Inside Esther, there was God... and God was the only mark of Esther's beauty, and no other kinds of beauty would ever compare. When I saw this point, I felt like God was saying to me, this is how He creates and treats each of us as women. See it or not, but deep inside our souls, there lies God's favor and there should be His likeness. He creates us. He designs us, every part of our body. He loves us and sees us beautiful. He is in each of us. He wants us to become like Him. 

Like Esther, when God's favor and likeness is there, right inside our own beauty, we won't be the same anymore. We won't be any typical women that the world is defining and expecting us to be. We become more. God will be the only mark of our beauty, and people will see Him just by seeing us, talking to us, having deep relationships with us. Just as people noticed Esther from her own kind of beauty that was all different from the rest of her, people will notice us differently. Not for noticing us, not for our own pride and glory, but they will start noticing the God inside each of us and giving Him all the glory. This is what He created us to be, this is how He has designed our beauty. 

My soul finally longs to be what He created me to be, to possess a beauty like Esther's; a beauty like no other. And I know, this won't happen in a sudden. There will also be a lot of "beauty treatments" given to me, given to us who longs for this Godly beauty. We need to let go of all our own definitions of beauty; that we are beautiful if we wear pretty dresses and heels, we are beautiful if we cover our face with perfect make up, we are beautiful if we are adored and accepted... and every other definitions that we've been creating for ourselves. We need to trade them all with the new beauty, where there is only God's likeness inside, where there is God's only purpose for each of us, and not our desires anymore. We need to die from ourselves for thousand times. We need to trust God to redefine our beauty, making it different than the world's beauty. We need to willingly, faithfully obey Him :) 

He calls us today. He calls our heart, our whole souls and bodies to follow Him into His likeness and purpose. He calls us to forsake our old kind of beauty behind, and start walking to the eternal beauty that He has prepared for us since the beginning of our creation. Let's respond to His calling for this new kind of beauty :)