By RaeLynn DeAngelis
As I peered into the free-standing mirror to apply makeup one morning, I noticed a few new wrinkles and age spots had appeared. A reminder that I’m not as young as I used to be. A few minutes later while drying my hair, I couldn’t help but notice the sagging, jiggly skin on the underside of my arms each time I lifted the blow dryer to reach the back of my hair.
Over the years, God has done a great work in opening my eyes to the truth of who I am in Christ and what is important in life. But on this day, everything became amplified, and in an instant, old thought patterns magnified the changes I was seeing in my outward appearance.
I recognized what the enemy was doing. I was not about to let him yank me back into a self-loathing mindset after I had come so far. This territory had been conquered decades ago. So, I immediately began rehearsing the biblical truths God has already spoken over me, truths that remind me of who I am in Him. The King is enthralled by my beauty. I am His beloved daughter. I am chosen, anointed, set-apart, and wonderfully made. Outwardly, I may be wasting away, but inwardly, I am being renewed day by day.
I remember my grandmother saying, “Honey, you just wait. Time goes faster the older you get.” She was right! As I rapidly approach the sixty-year mark, a milestone I used to consider old (shame on me), I realize aging gracefully does not mean what I once thought. I used to think it meant a person had somehow escaped the usual signs of aging. Your skin remained plump. Your hair didn’t gray. And body parts defied gravity. But during my recent body assessment, God gave me a wonderful new revelation, and it came through the quiet whisper of the Holy Spirit in my heart. I started seeing the old adage “aging gracefully” through a different lens—the lens of a loving, doting Father.
“Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day” (2 Corinthians 4:16).
Sweet Sisters, aging gracefully means we give ourselves grace as we age. It is not about being graceful, but being grace-filled. What a freeing concept and revelation.
“The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart” (1 Samuel 16:7).
Spoiler alert… we are not in Eden anymore. The longer we are here on this earth, the more we will succumb to the effects of gravity, UV rays, and dying cells. Why not embrace the aging process and consider ourselves lucky to still be here, breathing, serving, loving, and praising our Creator. Who, by the way, made us in His image—mind, body, and spirit.
The truth is, we get to choose our thoughts. We get to choose our perceptions. We get to choose our beliefs. We get to choose how we are going to view ourselves. Are we going to see ourselves through the lens of God, or through the lens of a defeated enemy whose sole purpose is to kill, steal, and destroy?
“Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings” (1 Peter 5:8-9).
As daughters of the King, we have the power of the Holy Spirit living inside us, a power that renders Satan powerless. The only power the enemy has over us is the power we give him.
So, the next time the enemy starts spewing lies through a warped reflection you see in the mirror, tell him to take a hike, flee, and go back to the flaming pit of hell where he belongs. Never forget that you, like me, have earned every one of those wrinkles, sags, and age spots through a life well-lived. And a life well-lived is a life worth living.
“Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me” (Psalm 51:10).
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