TRANSFORMATION:
UGLY BUT BEAUTIFUL
By Wanda Joy
Most of my life, I have been drawn to cattails, otherwise known as bullrushes, probably because they grow in wet areas and I am drawn to water as a physical place of peace in this busy, busy life. Recently, on a walk in our neighborhood, I came across a small crop. I stopped to take a picture and my thoughts turned to transformation. The two thoughts that came immediately were, ugly but beautiful. Isn’t that what transformation is? Isn’t it releasing the ugly to get to the beautiful?
To transform, according to Webster, is “to change in character or condition.” The appearance of these cattails shows that they are shedding the old (ugly) to make way for the new (beautiful). The Bible tells us in Romans that we are to be transformed by renewing our minds. (Romans 12:2 says “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind…”) How do we do that? We do that by knowing the truth of God’s Word, letting it consume us and allowing the Holy Spirit to change our thinking.
It’s a really strange time in our world right now. Many are sick, many have died, many are out of work, many are performing tasks that they never thought they would ever be required to do. So many are fearful of walking out of their own home and into a grocery store to get their basic needs. People are stockpiling as if their lives depend on it. We are wearing masks and avoiding other human contact, including grandparents, parents, sons, daughters, and grandchildren. So much uncertainty according to the world's standards. Many are in financial distress. Anxiety is rampant. We have a choice, we can join in on the mayhem, or we can transform our thinking.
Lamentations 3:37-38 says, “Who has spoken and it came to pass, unless the Lord has commanded it? Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that good and bad come?” God is Sovereign. He is in control. No matter what happens in our lives, he is not surprised. God can use all things to transform us in the image of Christ. Are we willing to allow our current struggles to change us into a more beautiful child of Christ? This should change our focus. Instead of allowing our current circumstances to weigh us down, we should ask God how this can change us for a more beautiful Christ-likeness.
There is a song that I think goes beautifully along with this. It’s called “Beautiful Things” by Lisa and Michael Gungor. Some of the lyrics go like this:
“All this pain
I wonder if I’ll ever find my way
I wonder if my life could really change, at all?
All this earth
Could all that is lost ever be found?
Could a garden come out from this ground, at all?
You make beautiful things
You make beautiful things out of the dust
You make beautiful things
You make beautiful things out of us
All around,
Hope is springing up from this old ground
Out of chaos life is being found, in you
…
You make me new,
You are making me new
…”
So, we have a choice. We can either choose to wallow around in our circumstances or we can choose to trust God and ask Him to transform us into a more beautiful person. He can turn the ugly into beautiful!
