Reliable And Ravishingly Beautiful

Do you have something or someone in your life you can completely rely on?

My car has been surprisingly reliable for the seventeen years I have had it. (It’s a Honda.) My house is sturdy and stands firm in all the Alaskan storms with winds blowing 70 mpH, or frequent earthquakes—some with magnitudes over seven on the Richter scale. My husband is my favorite example of reliability: he is the stable presence in our family that my kids and I depend on.

Reliability can become boring in our minds (except in my husband’s case, of course). We tend to take things for granted that are reliable. We know God is the most reliable, and we tend to forget about Him during the day.

Ravishing beauty, on the other hand, can get under our skin and make us a little crazy- obsessed. A beautiful actress dies young—what a tragic loss! Maybe a story of a courageous act of self-sacrificial love gets our emotions going. Our hearts are moved and melted by beauty, courage, self-sacrifice, and love in action. It’s hard to forget those rare, amazing moments that mark our lifetime—when we were overwhelmed with ravishing beauty and love.

Is there any intersection between reliability and ravishing beauty? Could both exist in one person? Haven’t our hearts been broken before by ravishing beauty that failed to love us back? And haven’t we lost our wonder and awe over time because of familiarity and numbness?

The answer to all these questions lies in the word, “righteousness.”

Righteousness means both reliability (trustworthiness), and ravishing beauty (glory) all wrapped up together.

Only God is righteous. We wish we were righteous. Jesus came to make a way for us to be righteous in Him. Christian living is abandoning hope in our own righteousness as we receive Christ’s righteousness as a gift. Let’s look at Psalm 119, and learn about God’s righteousness.

Without God, we are small, despised, and filled with anguish. We hear Satan’s lies that we are unlovable, worthless, or helpless, and we can’t prove them wrong. We can easily recite all the evidence that we have failed; we have acted in an evil way; we have hated God and others in our hearts. We may even hate ourselves at times. We are unreliable, and we can’t see any beauty in our own hearts. We rarely catch a glimpse of beauty and reliability in others, but we can’t hold on to it. It escapes our grasp.

God has good news for us. God has compassion for us. God is ravished by the beauty and righteousness of Jesus Christ, His Son. Jesus Christ—fully God and fully Man—can rescue us from our unrighteousness. The person who has faith in Christ is now fully clothed in Christ’s righteousness and salvation, and has also become a ravishing beauty to God. At last we can see His beauty, because only He is the fully reliable, fully ravishing Lover of our souls.

How could we ever live in numbness, addiction, or denial, when we have such a Lover?

Why do so many Christians struggle to feel loved by God? I think it’s because we cringe at the word exclusivity. We have to acknowledge the exclusivity of God’s truth: only God is the source of eternal truth and salvation. Only God is righteous; only God can make us righteous; and only through Jesus Christ becoming sin for us on the cross can we become the righteousness of God in Him (2 Corinthians 5:21).

Let the offense of the gospel lead you to the honor God promises us when we believe His Word. The person who believes will be called great in the kingdom of God. The one who is humble and meek—receiving God’s truth without rebellion—will find the greatest love, the most satisfying relationship, and the flourishing life of fellowship with God and His people. The zeal the psalmist has in verse 139 is the only logical response to the exclusive, jealous, and loyal love of God, that can then create the psalmist’s significance, worth, and identity.

May we long to experience the reliable and ravishing love of God for us. May He create a ravished heart of love for Jesus in us, now and forever.

Except You Ravish Me

Batter my heart, three-person’d God, for you
As yet but knock, breathe, shine, and seek to mend;
That I may rise and stand, o’erthrow me, and bend
Your force to break, blow, burn, and make me new.
I, like an usurp’d town to another due,
Labor to admit you, but oh, to no end;
Reason, your viceroy in me, me should defend,
But is captiv’d, and proves weak or untrue.
Yet dearly I love you, and would be lov’d fain,
But am betroth’d unto your enemy;
Divorce me, untie or break that knot again,
Take me to you, imprison me, for I,
Except you enthrall me, never shall be free,
Nor ever chaste, except you ravish me. -John Donne’s Holy Sonnet XIV

1. Re-read the passage from Psalm 119:137-144 above. Think about the word, righteousness. Its meaning encompasses not only worthiness, but also the verdict of just according to the divine law, holy in heart, obedient to divine commandments. Do you long for righteousness? Your longing for your own version of righteousness could show up as self-justifying behavior, defensiveness when corrected, or discontentment with your present circumstances. What would it look like to receive that verdict of righteous from God? How would your behavior change?

2. Do you repent daily? Here’s something you can always repent over every day: your desire to be righteous apart from Christ. As you let go of your own attempts to be righteous, you will receive instead Christ’s perfect righteousness which He earned on your behalf. You will no longer be earning, striving, or insecure. You will not keep score. You will not entertain entitlement for one second, because you will be amazed at this infinite gift of grace—yours forever, earned at the cost of Jesus’ blood. What can you loosen your grip on right now?

3. Exclusivity is one of the hardest parts of the gospel for modern people to swallow. Could it be that there is only one way to God (John 14:6)? Could it be that anyone who hates Jesus loves death (Proverbs 8:36)? Could there only be two kingdoms, darkness and light (Colossians 1:13)? How do you struggle with exclusivity? Ask God to reveal to you how your offense can change to honor and assurance as you wrestle—but then surrender to Him and His sovereignty. Worship Him for being the only righteous Person in the universe.

4. What ravishes your heart? Is it physical beauty? Is it intellectual skill? Is it personalized attention and appreciation? How is God more ravishing? Can you believe that God is ravished by you, when you are in Christ? Read John 17:26 out loud, and worship God for loving you exactly the same way He loves Jesus. Read John 16:21 and picture the joy Jesus has in bringing you eternal life, even though it cost Him everything.

5. God is reliable, trustworthy, true, and well-tried (verse 140). He has never failed, never will fail, and cannot fail. Ask God to show you how reliable and ravishing He is. Let joy and worship overwhelm your soul. The steadfast love of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting to those who fear Him (Psalm 103:17).

Ready for greater connection to God? I am a certified Christian Life Coach with the AACC. Book a call with me here, and take a big step in your journey alongside another believer who will cheer you on, guide you to Jesus, and share in God’s work in your life!

Have you read my book yet? Drink from the River of Delight: Welcome to God’s Healing Space in His Word. Also on Audible and Kindle.

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