What spooked this monkey out?

Its own reflection.

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I hope you had a good laugh at this short 15-sec clip. But i also suspect some of you may be feeling a slight ache in the heart now. Because you saw yourself in the video.

I felt the ache. A tweeny weeny bit.

Nope, i don't jump at my mirror reflection (usually i smile in admiration, haha just kidding). This video reminded me of myself when i was 17 and probably 21, when i did not want to look at myself in the mirror.

Why? Due to hormonal changes in my body, i had rather serious acne breakouts on my face for prolonged periods of time. Boooo. They intensified my emotional up-and-downs, and going through life changes such as my dad's moving overseas for his businesses and bgr breakup made me feel even more ugly and bleak.

Cannot imagine how i looked? Let me grant you a sneak.

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Haha.

Oops i forgot to draw on the frown on the face. Needless to say, i felt crushed. Sincerely concerned remarks like 'Why your face like that?' were like a thousand arrows shooting at my heart. Inside it cried 'I also don't want it to be like that!'.

i got to know the Lord when i was 20. But nope, He did not perform magic on my face. Jesus works in ways which He knows will transform not just our external, but most importantly, the inside. If He just cleared my face miraculously overnight, i could have just walked away from Him in a short while forgetting about His goodness (come on, humans can be very ungrateful or in a nicer way, forgetful) without truly experiencing Jesus for who He is. Or worse, i could have then treated Him as Genie-in-a-bottle. I would have remained a selfish and self-centered person.

Once i saw this verse in the Bible, and it shot straight into my heart.
"A happy heart makes the face cheerful, but heartache crushes the spirit." (Proverbs 15:13)

Ouch. It revolutionised my thoughts - i felt so crushed in the face and soul cos' i had allowed man's standards and opinions seep deep into me and cause pain. Definitely i could not avoid feeling hurt, but i could have embraced deeper a greater Truth in this 'predicament'. The truth that God has made me wonderfully and fearfully (Psalm 139:14), and when God looks at me, He is always delighted and always loves, no matter how i look!

And guess what, the verse offered me the best antidote - a happy heart!

God brought me to truly delight in Him, His love and character. For the first time i experienced divine joy, and it has never stopped flowing through me since then. =) And I think my journey with Christ over the years has let me become, bit by bit, more like Him. Thank You Lord.

This is what i mean by being transformed inside out! *winks*

My beautiful sisters and me now =)
(Click to view my face bigger if you dare. Haha)

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+ Is there anything you have been asking God for for very long? Why not let Jesus transform you from the inside out first.

+ Is there a deeper and greater Truth you should be embracing today?