"Great peace have those who love your law, and nothing can make them stumble." Psalm 119:165 (NIV)

Tick. Tick. Tick. The waiting room clock drew my attention to the obvious: I wished we weren't there. Me in the silence and she surrounded by machines. Yesterday, laughing in the coffee shop had been a happier day for my friend and me.

When I heard her voice coming down the hall, I was thrown off by her tone. Her voice was not that of a fearful woman facing the unknown results of the test she'd just taken. And as her face came into view, her expression was not that of a woman filled with uncertainty.

Her countenance radiated one thing: peace. Complete and utter peace.

As I drew near to offer my support, hope spilled through her words, "Before we go, please let me share with you the words Jesus has been whispering to me."

Taking a seat in that hospital lounge, my friend knew just where to go in God's Word. She had been soaking her heart in the familiar passage all week. Pouring her faith into me, it was all I could do to hold back the tears. Wasn't I there to support her? Yet, it was her words, filled with God's words that were the life-giving ones.

My friend was living out today's verse, "Great peace have those who love your law, and nothing can make them stumble" (Psalm 119:165).

There is something otherworldly about being in the presence of one who has faced what we all may fear. Who has touched God there, and is no longer afraid of the pain this life might hold. I haven't experienced that level of fear before. I haven't paid the price to grasp the peace she holds today. But I want it. I want the peace she has. I want my heart to be ok with anything that comes my way because my heart is peacefully resting in a God I know is good.

No matter what.

Jesus says He will give us a peace that passes all understanding (Philippians 4:7). I saw that peace. Literally saw it with my eyes, in my gorgeous friend that morning. I witnessed the beauty that can only come when a woman is daily saturated in the Word of God. It's a beauty so gorgeous it's much more than a face in the mirror. It's a beauty I want.

Most likely, I will not experience the exact pain she has experienced. But I can still become beautiful like her.

I know what to do to get it ... to be like my friend.

I become beautiful like my friend by practicing being in God's presence as she does, learning to daily love His law as the psalmist said.

Getting alone. Going to that place, every day, where His Word gets in me because I get into His Word. Setting aside all else, so His peace can seep into every inch of my heart. Allowing His peace to wedge out all fear.

My friend isn't beautiful because of her oh-so-cute hairstyle or her trendy outfit, though she has those too. My friend is lovely because she has found Jesus' peace in spite of the pain. I want true beauty like that.

Father, this world tries to daily define beauty for us. Magazines and makeup ads constantly scream at us "more, more, more." Your beauty, though, is a gentle peace, even when our world may be spinning. Lord, may we be desperate to become the women You long for us to be; women who radiate You to all we meet. In Jesus' Name, Amen.

***

TRUTH FOR TODAY:

Galatians 5:22-23, "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law." (NIV)

RELATED RESOURCES:

Do you know a young woman who longs to grow beautiful and live in the fullness of her God-given potential? If so, Lynn Cowell's new book Magnetic: Becoming the Girl He Wants is a study based on the fruit of the Spirit! Today, Lynn is giving away a copy of Magnetic as well as a beautiful Magnetic bracelet designed by and benefitting Fashion & Compassion. Stop by her blog to learn more and enter to win your copy.

Want to learn more about studying God's Word so the fruit of the Spirit will be a natural outpouring of your life? Today, Lynn shares tips on allowing God's Word to fill your heart to face each day on her blog.

REFLECT AND RESPOND:

Think of a place in your life that lacks God's peace right now. Invite Jesus to change your perspective and bring His peace to your heart and into that situation.

© 2014 by Lynn Cowell. All rights reserved.