Finding Beautiful By Rebecca FriedlanderSample

Day Two:  Beautifully Secure Scripture: Romans 5:8, 10:12-13, 2 Corinthians 5:15 To begin, I’d like to introduce you to Lucie, a woman in her mid-twenties who is dedicated to sharing the gospel of Christ in the City of Love. As we sat in our quaint Parisian café, I realized her story resonates with the heartbeat of every woman who longs for safety and true love and holds many secrets for becoming beautifully secure. Lucie grew up on a farm in the bucolic countryside of Switzerland. Her father was Mennonite and her mother Catholic, so she learned about God’s existence at a young age, but He felt distant. School was another matter. It was there she experienced intense bullying and ridicule and began suffering from increasing panic attacks.  At age sixteen, she moved from the farm to start an apprenticeship at a bakery. No more will I cower , she inwardly vowed. I refuse to be that awkward girl. With a little makeup, a new hairstyle, and a determination to fake confidence until she made new friends, Lucie started her new job. Nobody knew her in the town, so she decided to be open, happy, and extroverted. It worked. She succeeded in her determination for a while, willing to go along with the crowd to gain acceptance. But one night after hard partying, the old familiar fear gripped her unrelentingly, and she cried out to Jesus. Lucie was shocked by the entrance of her Savior. Even when I was stuck in a mess of bad choices, He still came to me. The wonder of God’s love crept over her, and for the first time, she felt no anxiety. The metamorphosis had begun. The Holy Spirit began to show Lucie a far greater beauty that pierced her heart and gave her a reason to live. She began to seek out more of God and started attending a local church. Eventually, Lucie sensed God wanting her to attend a discipleship training school in another country. She was afraid, but her faith was growing. She left her family, her job, and her nation and moved to her new school. Little did she know that God was removing every security blanket because He was about to make her whole. Only by vulnerably placing ourselves in the hands of our Creator can the metamorphosis reach deeply enough into our souls, until we shed the old skin and soar into the heavens. To prepare us for His new wings, God may require our sacrifice of old securities, but we discover that He holds the key to our destiny. When do you feel safest? Is God’s presence a part of that?