So, I have a confession to make, I am a closet make up, makeover junkie. I love to find out about products, application, color coordination and see a transformation take place before my eyes. Sometimes it is to the benefit of the “make-upee” … sometimes, not so much. I appreciate the creative expression that each person brings to their interpretation of the products, colors and textures.
Now, for some, this might not be a big deal. But for me, to make such a confession, it’s a big deal and partly embarrassing (if I’m honest). You need to understand a little bit more about me and how I grew up in order to appreciate how huge this is… so, let me explain.
I am the eldest of 5 children. I have 4 younger brothers… yes, that is correct. No sisters, just boys. My father is a man’s man. By profession is he a professional carpenter and windows guy. He built our childhood home with his own hands and the help of my mother and grandfather. He did martial arts and boxing when I was young. Competition runs deep in my family. My father LOVES sports… of all kinds but namely hockey and football. He is gifted with fixing things, cars, cabinets, you name it, he figures it out. He is truly a man’s man.
My mother is a low-maintenance woman who is a strong, will do anything, anywhere and anytime beast. She would give any man a run for his money doing just about anything. She is independent and powerful. She also is into sports and is highly competitive.
My brothers were ALL high achieving athletes and academics. Our evenings and weekends were filled with climbing trees, building forts, riding our bikes, playing whatever our imaginations concocted outside, wrestling, the occasional sibling brawl and dare I say, trash picking.
So in this world there was no room for the sensitive, the gentle, the tender or the what would be considered “girly”. The closest I got to girly was playing barbies with one friend I had when I was very young and even then, most of my time was spent doing more tom boy type activities.
I didn’t have a lot of experience with what would be considered girly things… I genuinely liked being a tom boy but, if I am honest, I do remember wanting to experiment with girly stuff but, never really felt comfortable with exposing my desire to anyone. I had this idea that to be girly meant that I was weak or inferior. I couldn’t have that, so I closeted the idea and moved on.
So, maybe you can understand why making such a confession about something so “girly" such as make up is such a big deal. For the majority of my life, I had believed the lie that being a woman made me inferior, made me weak, made me less important, made me not as intelligent, not as able, not as successful. To be honest, I didn’t like being a woman and I didn’t like women. I needed to be healed, I needed to be transformed and I needed to be made new, I needed a makeover.
In my thirties, God started this transformation in my heart. He started to reveal the truth about the lies I had believed. He started healing wounds in my soul and giving me fresh revelation of His heart for me as a woman. He restored my identity and gave me new interests. One of those new interests for me is make-up… who would have thought!?
By no means as it been easy. There’s been a lot of renouncing, repenting, forgiveness and renewing that has been needed and I am still very much learning but, God is in the business of makeover transformations.
In light of the idea of the power of make up and makeovers, I’ve seen videos of women suffering from skin discoloration, acne scarring or worse be transformed by applying foundation. Eyes come to life when contrasting color is added. Blush, bronzer, lipstick, sparkle and shine are all elements of transformation and in that moment you can see empowerment take place when the “make upee” feels more confident, more satisfied or even at peace. If you think about it, it’s quite a weird phenomenon.
But, just think… if make up has that much influence on the surface… God’s transformation and makeover is so much more than skin deep.
Revelation 21:3-7
And I heard a great voice out of heaven, saying: “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will tabernacle with them, and they will be His peoples, and God Himself will be with them as their God. And He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death will be no more nor mourning nor crying nor pain; they will be no more, because the former things have passed away.”
And the One sitting on the throne said, “Behold, I make all things new.” And He says, “Write this, because these words are faithful and true.” And He said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the one thirsting I will give of the spring of the water of life freely. The one overcoming will inherit all things, and I will be his God, and he will be My son."
God says here, “Write this” Almost has if to reinforce… “Make sure you get this down… make sure you understand, that He has, He is and He will make everything over! You can count on it, no if, ands or buts. This is amazing truth for us that gives us hope that we can be, are being and will be new!
2 Corinthians 5:17
“Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old things have passed away; behold, the new has come into being.”
No one escapes the need for an internal makeover, to be transformed from the inside out. We all have areas, closets, closed off portions of our soul that need to be shown the power of God’s transformative makeover. So, let’s pray and consider for a moment with Holy Spirit, “What areas in my life need to be transformed?” Let’s actually take a moment to listen. I believe that Holy Spirit desires to reveal to us a specific area that needs attention. It’s an area that is keeping us from deeper communion, companionship, lordship and relationship with Himself.
Now with that area in mind, let’s talk about some practical applications of God’s transformative makeover.
1. REPENT
Let go of old wounds. Don’t look back.
Is 43:18 - "Do not call to mind the former things, Or ponder things of the past.” Another version: "Forget what happened in the past, and do not dwell on events from long ago.”
I don’t believe this to mean, we simply forget. In order to experience real heart transformation , we need to learn how to embrace the pain experienced in old wounds, release forgiveness to whomever was involved (sometimes including ourselves) in order that we find healing.
Once this is done, we must make it a practice and even discipline to not dwell on events of the past but instead, make the watershed mark of that event, the moment we experienced God’s transformative healing.
2. RESTORE
Look forward: Have hope.
Is 43:19 - "I am going to do something new. It is already happening. Don't you recognize it? I will clear a way in the desert. I will make rivers on dry land.”
In choosing to not look back, make the same choice to look forward. We need to perceive the new things that are happening within us continue to cultivate them, allowing God to “create in us a clean heart and renew a right spirit within us” (Ps. 51) in order that we might truly live as “new creatures” as promised. St. Ignatius said that, “The glory of God is a human being fully alive". Jesus is the Hope of that glory, in Him we are transformed, made new and fully alive.
3. RENEW
We were made new, we are being made new and we will be made new.
Romans 12:2 - "And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.”
It’s no secret that we live in a fallen world and although we have Truth at our finger tips we easily forget how powerful it truly is. Truth is:
- We have been renewed when Christ completed His work on the cross, dying our death in order to reconcile the relationship we were created for. You see, it’s not just about going to a place called Heaven. Heaven is only Heaven because God is there… that is heaven. Heaven is the restoration of a relationship lost when man decided it was better to do what was in his own heart and be someone he wasn’t.
Jesus came to restore all that was good in God’s creation and in His own words, made it as plain as could be, “It is finished”. There isn’t anything else that can be done to provide eternal transformation or salvation. It’s completed, it’s done. We are too only receive and be who He came to save.
- We are being renewed. Our minds are powerful. Nowadays we separate what is mind and heart but for those of the Old and New Testament, there is no distinction between the two. Mind and heart are one of the same. It is the command and control center of feeling, desire, ambition, rational, thought and motivation… to name a few of the characteristics that is the mind. We are told that our transformation happens through the renewing of this command and control center.
This is a continuous process of what we ‘know’, becoming a revelation of understanding, in order that it become part of who we are. We need to acquire biblical knowledge, pursue revelatory understanding and be transformed by its empowering truth. In that process, Truth replaces lies, Freedom replaces bondage, Joy replaces depression, Hope replaces despair. Our thoughts, motivations, desires, ambitions and even feelings are transformed.
- We will be renewed. This last Truth brings us back to Revelation 21. We live in a tension today between what has been done for us, who we are becoming and who we will be in the future. But, this tension is not our destiny. It’s a drop in he bucket. On day God’s capital “R” reality will overtake our present little “r” reality. One day eternity will invade time and all will transformed and made new in past, present and future… all at the same time. (Mind blown). What an amazing day that will be. Come Lord Jesus.
So, God in the business of world class makeovers. He is the master makeover artist of color coordination, product use and creativity when it comes to transformations of the heart. He is the true artist behind the power of makeovers. Why don’t we ask Him now to makeover our hearts as He sees fit today as He sees fit. Beauty is truly in the eye of the Beholder, He himself.
