"I am black, but comely, O daughters of Jerusalem, like the tents of Kedar, like the curtains of Solomon.Son 1:5"
One thing I need to know is what He has made me by His grace. I need to know what treasure He has placed within me by His loving-kindness and grace. I may look ordinary outside, yet He has made me comely. I may appear like mere clay among men, but He who calls me and loves me has imputed into me a beauty of His own holiness. I must not be intimated by the world system and so become so beggarly among them.
"Women of Jerusalem, I am dark but beautiful, dark as the desert tents of Kedar, but beautiful as the draperies in Solomon's palace.GNB"
O Lord, I must not despise what you have made me in any case. I must not allow anyone to despise my youth. I must not allow the world system to look down on me and what you are doing in my life. Let no man despise your youth was the instruction to Timothy. If I be in the will of God, though darkened outside by the scorching heat of the sun, I am made beautiful within as the draperies on Solomon's palace.
It is not the external adornment that matters to Him who loves me. It is rather the hidden man of the heart. It is not the height of stature that I must run for, it is the growth in grace of my inner man. Daughters of Jerusalem will seek to look down on me. They will seek to draw me into their beauty contest. They will flash before my face, their superficial outward decorations. I need to firmly confront them with the inner grace that is mine in Christ Jesus. I need to stand where I have been called. I am dark on the outside, but beautiful within. I bear in my earthen vessel, a treasure glorious and expensive.
Lord, help me to know this daily. Help me to walk in the consciousness of the glory I bear about among men. Help me to walk confidently in the realization of Him who is at work in me both to will and to do of His good pleasure.
If I will stand boldly in this generation for my King, I must know who I am in Christ Jesus. I must know the glory I bear in my bosom. I must know the weight of His word on my lips. It is not a carnal boasting that is the issue here. It is honest confidence in what Christ has done for me at Calvary. I need to speak plainly of this calling that I have received of Him in mercy.
"Don't look down on me because of my color, because the sun has tanned me...verse 6a, GNB
This is how to handle the daughters of this world. Don't look down upon me because of my color. O Lord, my deepest need this day is to know you and what you have done for me. Create in me such boldness henceforth. The council saw the boldness of Peter and John and took notice that they had been with Jesus. Barbarians they were called, but none could ignore the miracles that were done by their hands. I must know how to handle the accuser of the brethren. He will like to capitalize on my weaknesses to reproach me and put me to a corner. Lord, help me this day to accept the efficacy of the blood on my life and so walk boldly and without fear into the holiest of holies, being sure of a glad welcome. Teach me to access the throne with all boldness.
"My brothers were angry with me and made me work in the vineyard. I had no time to care for myself.verse 6b, GNB "
The challenge of personal walk with the Lord is here for me again. Though I should know how to wedge the enemy's accusations, I ought not to neglect my personal spiritual health. I must not get burnt out and famished on the field of public ministry. Public ministry is not a worthy exchange for my inner life and personal walk with the Saviour. If I lose my freshness and my anointing because I allow myself to be tanned by the sun on the vineyard labours, even the brethren will be angry with me. Many look up to me for light and guidance. They long to keep tapping fresh grace from my life and from the depth of His resources in my life. I will be a terrible disappointment to this generation if I allow myself to be fagged out too early. It will be a waste of the grace of God.
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