How To Sparkle From The Inside Out.
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There has been an entire trend of products and sayings using the word "sparkle" over the last few years. "I don't sweat, I sparkle.", "Don't let anyone ever dull your sparkle.", "Sparkle a little brighter, darling." And the list goes on and on.
The word sparkle came into my life in the 90s. I was twelve years old, and was part of a summer stock program. Our choreographer would yell out "SPARKLE!" if our steps weren't sharp, if our face wasn't smiley, and if we didn't POP on stage.Since then, sparkle has become a part of my vocabulary.
By definition sparkle means to shine brightly with flashes of light.
How do you do that? How do we "sparkle a little brighter, darling."?
HOW TO SPARKLE THE WORLDS WAY.
Change your skin care routine
Practice yoga and meditation
Change your makeup
Buy an outfit that makes you feel fierce
Find a man
Have a baby
.... and so on.
I really don't have much interest in the worlds answer to "SPARKLE". Sure, a new dress and makeup is fun, but will my life dramatically change with a new pair of shoes? Nothing can fill the empty spaces in our life that only Jesus can fill. I am much more interested in what the Scripture say about "shining brightly with flashes of light" because what God says is eternal.
WORD STUDY: LIGHTENED and Radiant.
In the King James, Psalm 34:4-5 says,
“I sought the Lord, and he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears. They looked unto him, and were lightened: and their faces were not ashamed.”
The New King James says, "I sought the LORD, and He heard me, And delivered me from all my fears. They looked to Him and were radiant, And their faces were not ashamed.”
I want to look at two words "lightened" and "radiant". When I read Psalm 34, those two words in those two translations jumped out at me.
I searched the Strong's concordance and found that the Hebrew word for lightened is "Nahar" (Naw-Har). Surprisingly it only occurs ONCE in this form in the Bible. The word LIGHTENED/RADIANT in Psalm 34:5 is Nahar and that word translates...get this....TO SPARKLE.
Yes!!! The word SPARKLE is in the Bible and is translated from the word Nahar. And it occurs only once. So on I went in my discovery to learn how to sparkle God's way. Look at Psalm 34:4. The Psalmist, David, says he sought the Lord, and the Lord heard him and delivered him from all His fears. To truly understand the context of these verses, you must understand the circumstances under which David wrote them.
David went insane...just for a moment!
The introduction to this Psalm says "Of David. When he pretended to be insane before Abimelech, who drove him away, and he left." The history behind this Psalm is found in 1 Samuel 20 and 21. I would highly recommend you read this fascinating story.
David was forced to leave Israel because it became too dangerous for him by the rage of Saul. He ran away to the land of the Philistines. The people of Goliath made David feel safer than the people of Israel. That is another message for another day. But for now, David found security with his enemies.
It was soon discovered who David was, and he was brought before the king, Abimelech. Here is where it gets interesting. David was worried he would be treated as a spy so instead of explaining why he was there or who he was, he pretended he was insane.
1 Samuel 21:13 "So David pretended to be insane in their presence; and while he was in their hands he acted like a madman, making marks on the doors of the gate and letting saliva run down his beard."
Can you imagine? Can you imagine being so afraid for your life that you pretend to be a "madman"? This is David! David! The great king of Israel. God's beloved. The sweet Psalmist! The shepherd boy who killed the lion, the bear, and Goliath. That David was now in front of a heathen king pretending to be crazy.
David's Academy Award winning performance worked and King Abimelech let him go. David escaped and penned the words to Psalm 34.
Have you ever escaped an insane season in your life? Like, David, all you can do once you get out of that season is give thanks and praise to God. David sought the Lord while he was faking madness to the king (Psalm 34:4) and God delivered him from his fear. When we seek the Lord, he will deliver us from our fear and he will make us radiant . . . lightened . . . without shame.
HOW TO SPARKLE GOD'S WAY.
If you are expecting a top ten list of "How to Sparkle God's Way" you won't find it here. The Scripture makes it very simple for us to "shine brightly with flashes of light".
The ONLY way to sparkle God's way, according to the Word, is to look to Him.
That is all.
Look to Him.
When you are in the middle of an insanely crazy season . . . Look to Him.
When you have no strength to face the day . . . Look to Him.
When you feel ugly, unattractive, sad, depressed . . . Look to Him.
Those who look to Him . . . Sparkle! (Psalm 34:5)
I tear up just reading that. When you look to Him (through His Word), when you hear what He says about you . . . You Sparkle.It is as simple as that, my friends. You don't need to spend hundreds of dollars on the latest fads. You don't need to be 30 years younger. You don't need Pinterest-perfection. You need to look to Him.
Nahar today my friends! Nahar! Sparkle! Shine brightly with flashes of light.
