Everything Beautiful

In Ecclesiastes 3:11 the author writes that “He [God] has made everything beautiful in its time.” This verse is one I have held on to and pondered over the past few days. In the past week we’ve entered a lot of different situations where it’s been really hard to recognize anything beautiful so this verse has had even more meaning.

Last Friday night we went to the red light district and entered bars with back rooms in plain view and even a strip club. We went to show God’s love to the woman that work there. These women were brokenhearted and in an atmosphere where men only take advantage of them it was hard to see where the beauty was. If there was any at all… Then I saw it in the eyes of one of the girls working. She claimed to be 21 at first, then a few minutes later, 17, then finally 19. I’m not exactly sure how old she really is but probably no more than 17. As me and another teammate began talking with her in our very broken Spanish I could see that she only needed and wanted love. Genuine love. She was strong and she kept her head held high but I could still see how broken she was. I honestly don’t know much about her, as our conversation was very limited due to our lack of Spanish skills, but what I do know is that she is surrounded by darkness and that on that Friday night we brought her light and a few minutes of joy.

After talking with her, we asked to pray over her. And although I don’t know what kind of lasting impact that night will have on her, I do know that God has the power to work in her and that we showed her a glimpse of God’s awesome love. I also know that my heart will be forever changed because of the experience. The word prostitute will now carry a clear image of a face that God created and loves and that is beautiful.