Radiant

Ladies, when was the last time you felt radiant?  Been awhile?  Yeah, me too.  I was recently staring into my closet wondering if it’s a bad sign that many of my clothing purchases in the last year have come from Sam’s Club… wait, don’t answer that, I know the answer.  As women our lives are so full of demands, chores, and people to take care of that we rarely spend time thinking about being radiant.  Usually “good enough” or “not too bad” will do.

Today, I want to change your attitude in that area and mine too.  First, what does it mean to be radiant?  Radiant means to send out light, to glow or shine.  In regards to a person it is as if that person is emanating light, joy or gladness.  These are just my simplified definitions.  If you are radiant, you are certainly having an effect on those around you and it is obvious something awesome is going on inside of you.

The verse that got me thinking on this idea of radiance is found in Jeremiah 31:12, “and they shall be radiant over the goodness of the Lord”.  Why will they be radiant?  Because of the “goodness of the Lord”!  No mention of stylish clothes, make-up or a good tan.  Duh, radiance couldn’t be caused by any of those things, they are outside of you.  Radiance is something that emanates from the inside out. 

That verse is part of a chapter in which God is speaking through his prophet Jeremiah telling of the restoration of the Israelites to their land and to himself.  Here are a few more awesome snippets from chapter 31: “I have loved you with an everlasting love” (v. 3), he will gather them and keep them “as a shepherd keeps his flock.” (v. 10), “I will turn their mourning into joy; I will comfort them, and give them gladness for sorrow.” (v. 13), “my heart yearns for him, I will certainly have mercy on him” (v. 20), and “I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts.  And I will be their God, and they shall be my people.” (v. 33).

With a God loving you like that, how could you keep from being radiant with joy?  This God is certainly overflowing with goodness.  In fact, he is goodness.

Do you belong to and serve the God that wrote the Bible?  How about the book of Jeremiah?  Chapter 31?  Yes, yes and yes for me.  I pray it is true for you too.  Then what are we waiting for??  Our radiance does not come from anything we can put on these bodies (whether from Sam’s or Saks) but what resides within us – which is the goodness of God through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.

If my radiance is dependent on the goodness of God, I should blind people when I walk by.  So how does this happen?  The answer is also so perfectly in Jeremiah chapter 31, verse 14, “my people will be satisfied with my goodness”.  God’s people find their full and perfect satisfaction in God alone.  If you are one of God’s people, find your full satisfaction in his goodness.  Soak yourself in God’s Word, be with him in prayer.  We should be so filled with the abundance of God’s love, grace and mercy that it consumes our being from the inside out and overflows onto a needy and dark world.  What a glorious picture.  It is a gospel picture.

Jesus radiated love for me when he poured out his blood on the cross.  In this act he paid my ransom price and now I am eternally secure and all the words spoken in Jeremiah chapter 31 are meant for me.  How could I be dissatisfied?? 
In a world filled with women trying so hard to accessorize themselves into beauty or to live a “good life” hoping that will translate into being a “good person”, we should shine like the sun.  While they are hoping all their work on the outside will seep into their soul, we stand confident that Jesus has done the work already and our soul is beautiful.  Therefore we do not fear, we are satisfied.
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If the Holy Spirit lives inside you, he should be shining through you.  Ladies, find your full satisfaction in the goodness of God and be radiant.