During this time of celebrating Halloween with costumes and acting, I feel led to write a series which I have entitled, “Mirror, Mirror On The Wall”.  Very fitting for some of the costumes we feel like we have to wear, the masks we put on and things we think we see when we look in the mirror.

You know, it seems to me that Walt Disney didn’t know the kind of trap he was starting when he coined the phrase “Mirror, Mirror On The Wall, Who Is The Fairest One of All.”.  I mean, I’m sure that the comparison trap was there before, but for quite a few women and girls, it started with the very first time that phrase was uttered.  And with it being said, now all women and girls were included in it’s bondage.  After all, who can resist a good Disney movie where a girl becomes a princess and they all live happily ever after.

It’s extremely tough to grow up here in Southern California and not be bombarded with the lies and traps of those amazing Disney movies.  When I was growing up every girl my age wanted to be a Disney Princess, me included.  It will come as no shock or surprise to you then, that my favorite Bible story is that of Queen Esther.  Esther seems to fulfill the entire Disney Princess theme.  But if you look a little bit closer, Esther is also a picture of today’s girl being raised in a tough environment with no parents and very little guidance.

Let’s look at the story a little bit.  Esther was a Jew.  At the time the story starts, her parents had been killed and she was being raised by a male cousin who was much older than she was.  So all of her teaching and tendencies came from a male point of view. Jews had been captured and brought to this strange land, where the story takes place.  So she had no homeland and for all intents and purposes she is a prisoner in the very place she lives.  Yes, there’s a lot of that and worse happening in various parts of our world today.  And she is given a new name  (her original name had been Hadassah) – a foreign name.  And just so you know, if you put the meanings of her two names together, it means “Hidden Star”. I can just hear the psychologists start about identity crisis and move on from there.

So it comes as a total surprise and shock that when a new queen is being sought that Esther herself is included in the search. And what is the first step in the process, Beauty treatments!  And not just a couple of things, no!  And entire year, twelve whole months of nothing but beauty treatments.  Sounds like something straight out of Hollywood, doesn’t it!

I love the way Beth Moore puts it, “It tough to be a woman in a world where beauty is a treatment”. So all this brings up a point; Where does our so-called beauty come from?  We looked a little bit at Proverbs yesterday, Let’s look a little more in depth.

In Song of Solomon 7:10 we are told that “I am my beloved’s and His desire is for me”.  So we are absolutely beautiful to our King, to our Bridegroom, to our God. How does that make you feel, girls?  The word I come up with is cherished.  And isn’t every Disney Princess cherished?

Psalm 90:17 lets us know, that while Esther had to go through an entire twelve months of beauty treatments we get ours from God.  “Let the beauty of the Lord be on me.”  Wow!  God’s beauty is resting on me.  Even though this is a point, let me be perfectly clear, you must go through a growing process at different times in your lives with God.  Sometimes it involves being renewed inwardly through God’s Word, sometimes it is getting through a trial God has allowed in your life. And sometimes it is smooth sailing.  But God allows all things in our lives to make us more beautiful, for our benefit.

And finally, in Colossians 2:10 we are informed that “I am complete in Christ”.  How much more could we possibly want, than to be complete, to be cherished, to be desired of God.

So today, I’ll leave you with that as an encouragement.  You are beautiful, you are loved, you are complete.  Tomorrow we’ll see just why Esther gets to live “Happily Ever After”.