Physical Beauty May Be Overrated

Do you realize that a survey taken a while back noted that 95% of all high school students, and 100% of all movie stars, would change something about their physical being if only they could? And then, according to the book, Inside America by pollster Louis Harris, 99% of the American women and 94% of the American men would change something about their looks if possible. 
 
The late Ann Landers listed problems with one's physical appearance: weight; birthmarks; baldness; height; etc., as being one of the ten most common problems people wrote to her about.
 
Do you relate? Is there something you don't like about yourself; something you'd change if only you could? 
 
The Bible rarely deals with a person’s physical beauty or lack of the same. We know that Sarah, the wife of Abraham, was beautiful. The same could be said of Rebekah, Isaac’s wife, and Rachel, Jacob’s wife. Other beautiful ladies of Scripture include Abigail and Bathsheba, both wives of David, and Esther the Queen. This short list of six women covers the ladies that the Bible specifically describes as being beautiful.
 
We have no way of knowing whether Abraham was handsome or not, fat or skinny, tall or short. His physical characteristics meant absolutely nothing in the passage of time. You see, God did not call Abraham to be Mr. Universe. He wanted him to father a nation, to prove faithful, to be obedient. To God, those factors proved much more important than the amount of hair on his head, or the size of his biceps. He was God's man -- that was all that really mattered!
 
When Jesus was here on earth, He never distinguished himself as a man of extraordinary physical attractiveness. In fact, Isaiah 53:2 states: “He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to Him, nothing in His appearance that we should desire Him.” 
 
The Apostle Paul was probably a short man and more than likely suffered from very poor eyesight. He had a prison record that was quite long and may have suffered from bouts of sickness.
 
Oh, I must mention David. Scripture records that he was “ruddy, with a fine appearance and handsome features”. But, outside of his obvious way with the ladies, David’s handsome features did very little for the brother.

• He still had marital problems,
• rebellious children, and
• experienced tragedy and death in his home.
• He still walked away from the Lord at times.

 
If you think that all of your problems would be over if only you were one of the 50 beautiful
people in People Magazine, you might want to think again. Physical beauty is not a magic ticket that guarantees one a wonderful life. 

The Redeemed Team