Have you ever thought that? I sure have!

I’d walk through the hallways at my high school, looking at the girls with perfect hair, perfect skin, perfect teeth and getting perfectly bummed!

It just doesn’t seem fair. God is all-powerful, right? He could make my hair thick and shiny, my skin clear and shiny, my teeth white and shiny. (OK, so I’m a little obsessed with shiny!)

God could have made me drop-dead gorgeous. There are missionaries to models, after all (Models for Christ). Models need to hear about Jesus, too, right? I’m willing, Lord!

But God didn’t choose to make me drop-dead gorgeous. Not even close. Imperfect hair, imperfect skin, imperfect teeth. I’m average.

So where is God in my averageness? Does He care? Or is He looking only at my inner beauty, completely unconcerned with the person who stares back at me in the mirror every morning?

You know what? God made all of me! And one of my favorite Bible stories teaches me that He even made my looks for a purpose.

The story is Esther.

Know it? Beautiful Jew who married a king and saved her people from complete annihilation. It’s an awesome story.

But as I’ve studied this story more, I’ve realized Esther really wasn’t that lucky. In fact, I think Esther probably wished she wasn’t so pretty.

Crazy, I know! But hang with me, and I’ll explain.

Not All That
Esther lived in Babylon (in today’s Iraq). This was not her home. She was from Israel. But her people had been slaves in Babylon for many years. Her parents were dead, and her cousin Mordecai raised her.

The king’s wife got the boot for refusing to show herself off to her husband and his drunken friends. So the king needed a new wife.

As king, he, of course, wanted the most beautiful woman in the kingdom.

This is where fairy tales begin—Prince Charming (Orlando Bloom) is looking for a fair maiden to wed, right?

Wrong! Chances are this king looked more like your algebra teacher than Orlando Bloom. He probably ate a lot, sat a lot, and, well, that’s about it.

Not my idea of the perfect man. How about you?

Nevertheless, he was king, and so he could do whatever he wanted and marry whomever he wished.

So the search began. Naturally, Esther was chosen as one of the contestants in the marry-the-king beauty pageant.

Was she excited? She had to leave her cousin, her friends, her life, to compete to be married to a king who was probably fat. And if she won the competition, she would be stuck in the palace, unable to return to her family and friends, waiting around in her well-decorated room for the times when her husband might want her company.

My guess? She was crying in the chariot on the way to the palace that God would make her ugly!

But He didn’t. She arrived at the palace for the year-long beauty treatments (yep, a whole year of facials, manicures, diets, etc.) that prepared her to go before the king. The guy in charge of all the competitors picked Esther out as his favorite. He gave her the best seaweed wraps; the juiciest low-carb dinners; the best creams, masks and fancy clothes that were available.

Sure, that sounds kind of fun. Who doesn’t like being pampered? But for a whole year? With dozens of other young ladies who hate you for being picked as the favorite? I doubt she had a friend in the palace.

God, why did you make me so beautiful? Give me flat hair, a face full of pimples, crooked teeth. Anything to get out of here! Please!

But God made her beautiful. So beautiful, in fact, that she won the contest and married the king.

Remember the end of the story? God used her to stop the evil prime minister’s plot to have all the Jews killed.

God made Esther beautiful in order to save His chosen people.

God made Esther beautiful.

Greater Purpose
God has designed everything about us. For a reason! Part of that reason may be to attract the man God has chosen for us to marry. Another reason is because God doesn’t define beauty the way we do. He didn’t love Esther because of how she looked. He loved Esther—and He loves us—because we are His! We’re beautiful daughters of the King!

God loves us more than we can possibly imagine. And He made us exactly the way we are for a reason.

Do I think God knows what He’s doing? That making me with less-than-perfect hair, skin and teeth was His plan?

Yes, I do!

I’m married. Not to a fat, ugly, self-centered king, but to a great-looking guy who treats me like a queen! And he thinks I’m beautiful, even though I’m not shiny!

And God has chosen to use me in a country that’s not my own to help people who are slaves be saved from death.

The people are slaves to sin. Their death is eternal separation from God.

I’m a missionary.

No, not to supermodels! But to people who are beautiful. They’re beautiful because God loves them, and God created them.

God thinks they’re beautiful. That’s why He’s sent us to them, to let them know how much their Creator loves them.

God thinks you’re beautiful, too. You may not yet know why, but God made you for a special purpose. Maybe to be a missionary. Maybe a mom. Or a businesswoman. Who knows? What I do know is His plans are great. Better than anything we can imagine!

So thank Him for who you are. All of you! Walk down the halls in your school and think how lucky you are to be a beloved, beautiful, shining daughter of the King!