God loves ugly

A few weeks ago I enjoyed a weekend trip to Krakow. Among the highlights was an evening event that my friend Diana helped coordinate that was put on by the Polish Gospel Choir. Yes, Poles sing gospel and quite well, I might add. Besides being moved by Diana's solo where the woman sang with such soul, (she was off the chain.....whatever that means) I was most incredibly provoked by Arek's solo.

Arek is a quadriplegic. He has very limited use of his hands and absolutely no use of his feet. Maybe it was a combination of the visual and audial message that God used as He sang with an incredible voice. His solo came from Psalm 121 called MY HELP and after the choir and song leader sang this psalm gospel style, there is a reprise which Arek sang "my help, my help, my help, all of my help, cometh from the Lord." I was undone.

I can't imagine what it must be like to get up every day and need the help of others to do your basic and ordinary life functions. But this is the life of the quadriplegic. When I was in college my junior year, I was an RA and there was a girl named Susan in my dorm who God sovereignly placed in my life. Through our friendship, I was able to see what it's like to live as a quadriplegic and it is definately NOT easy. To make matters worse, my friend Susan was a quadriplegic because her mother didn't want her at birth. Can you imagine that Susan's mom failed at trying to self-abort Susan? Talk about painful knowledge of your past. I know that this is graphic, but that is the ugliness of sin.

Anyways, I believe there is so much value in the lives of Areks and Susans. They remind us unashamedly that God does not look at the outward appearances but He looks at the heart. Some people have it all together on the outside but inside they're just ugly. Then other people are shunned by society as misfits and ugly. Yet God takes these lives and He promotes, He loves and He enjoys them as His treasure!

Oh that we would be changed inside, that our view of people and things would go beyond the natural eye to see things from a heavenly perspective.

That night as tears streamed down my face I was reminded again that "God loves ugly", as Christa Black sings. "He doesn't see the way I see...God takes ugly and turns it into something that is beautiful....Apparently, I'm beautiful...Cause you love me...."