THIS IS FOR GIRLS. GUYS READING THIS AND APPLYING IT TO THEMSELVES IS A NO-NO.
Today I started working on the fourth lie that I believe: “I am ugly”.
I decided to read Song of Solomon, since it’s been said that this amazing love letter is reminiscent of the way Jesus feels about His bride--the church. So during Cantonese service, I read through Song of Solomon. Cantonese service never passed so quickly, and I couldn’t stop re-reading verses over and over in awe of the amazing depth of love in each word. Each verse is so precious, so meaningful.
I used to pass over the book of Song of Solomon because I never believed it could in any way relate to me. I felt the way so many girls feel, “No one could ever be insane enough to say this about me”. Yet I’ve finally realized that yes, not only am I loved as a whole, but every little trait of mine is beloved by the Great Lover. So you don’t have to read this. You may laugh at my belief in His everlasting love for us all. But for those of you who are stuck in the same situation I am in, for those who continue to believe that you are not made absolutely perfectly, please join me on my journey to discovering just how beautiful God has made every one of us.
I will skip some verses here and there that talk about the Bridegroom. My journey is to dwell on who He made me, but I will later read of how loving and beautiful He is. I will also skip some of the more… intimate verses. Hey, God made sex as a beautiful thing between a married man and woman. It’s nothing to blush about; it is sacred and must be kept as something special. However, at this time in my life, it does not apply to me, so I’ll skip those verses as well.
Verse 8:
“If you do not know, most beautiful of women…” [NIV].
“If thou know not, O thou fairest among women…” [KJV].
Most beautiful--fairest among all women. In the verses before, it speaks of how this woman has done manual labor, staying out in the sun, and becoming dark-skinned in a time when light-skinned woman were considered beautiful. And yet the Friends and the Lover call her the most fair of all women. Not “a fair woman”, not “a sort of cute person”. No, each of us is THE fairest among women! [Don’t try to follow God’s logic. We think we’re wise, but the more you learn, the more you realize how little you know. "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the LORD” – Isaiah 55:8.]
Don’t try to think too hard, the fact is pure and simple: Each of us girls is the fairest among women. “Fair” is a word that means “pure; clean; pleasing to the eye or mind especially because of fresh, charming, or flawless quality”.
FACT: We are all the most fair of all women. NONE of us are made ugly. We can BECOME ugly by impure thoughts and actions, but when you return to the Great Lover and make yourself a living sacrifice to Him, you become beautiful once again.
Verse 9 – 11:
“I liken you, my darling, to a mare harnessed to one of the chariots of Pharaoh. Your cheeks are beautiful with earrings, your neck with strings of jewels. We will make you earrings of gold, studded with silver” [NIV]
”I have compared thee, O my love, to a company of horses in Pharaoh's chariots. Thy cheeks are comely with rows of jewels, thy neck with chains of gold. We will make thee borders of gold with studs of silver” [KJV]
Okay, at first glance, these verses may make you snort a bit. I’m a mare? What? Deeper study, however, leaves a better idea of what the Great Lover means. Horses were rarely ever used in Biblical times for servile use. They were connected with war and strength; they bespoke of nobility and high breeding.
Horses sold during Solomon’s time were worth about one hundred dollars in 1871, which is now worth between $1,818.44 and $187,897.05. Now remember that that’s only the price of a normal war horse. Imagine the breeding and high nobility of a horse that is good enough to be harnessed to the chariots of pharaoh! That sky-high price, doubled due to the fact that an Egyptian war chariot is pulled by two horses, and the high breeding and nobility of both horses combined, is less precious and less noble than you!
FACT: You are worth more than can be described. You are a noble daughter and full of spirit.
Jewelry, jewelry, jewelry. Oh, wait, let me use modern-day talk. Ahem: bling, bling, bling. Anyways, jewelry is the age-old “ideal” way to show a girl you love her. Apparently. After all, they are expensive [wallet-sucking] and oh-so-shiny [dead]. [No, I’m not a jewelry hater, I’m just being smarmy.] The Great Lover likens your cheeks and necks to jewels. How many times have you looked in a shop window and seen rows upon rows of beautiful jewels in all the colors of the rainbow? They are such beautiful gifts that God gave us as natural resources.
The most expensive and rare jewel is the ruby. [I used to think it was a diamond, but really, it’s not.] Rubies range from light pink to deep purplish-red. What better way to compare the windswept flushed cheeks of a laughing maiden than to a ruby? You cheeks are comely with rows of jewels…”
FACT: Yep, He loves your cheeks. Don’t cover them with choppy bangs; God loves you to show to others His most precious rubies of all.
The silver and gold parts are self-explanatory. God loves you so much and He wants to adorn your neck and ears with jewelry, making more beautiful what He has already made beautiful.
FACT: Your neck—He loves it! Your ears are so beautiful to Him that He’s just itching to give you something to accentuate and bring to attention your two cute little ears. He thinks you’re wonderful.
If God could show you how much He loves you in a secular song, the closest one I could find is John Mayer’s “You Body Is A Wonderland”. I definitely don’t suggest it to anyone because of the sexual hints in it and because it’s not a pure adoration of the way God made you, but the title is perfect. HEY YOU! You know what God thinks of you? HE LOVES YOU AND HE THINKS YOU’RE PERFECT!
For three hours I’ve been focusing on four verses of the first chapter of Song of Solomon. I don’t have the time to continue today, and I’m still too much in awe of how much He loves my ears, neck, and cheeks, and how noble and costly He thinks I am. When I have the chance, I will continue on with the next verses, and I really do hope that you will read the book by yourself and accompany me on this journey to discovering just how much the Great Lover loves me.
Until next time, gorgeous girls,
Mia.
