As I bite my lower lip and my eyes begin to water, many thoughts run through my mind. Ouch being the first, and second, why am I doing this? It hurts, especially those thicker hairs by the bridge of my nose!

Plucking my eyebrows is a new thing for me. Prior to this, I would try other ways of making my eyebrows look better without all the pain. At first, I would shave them. It was a quick fix - quite risky, really. It was either very brave or extremely dumb, the jury is still out on this one. I must admit, I did have a few slips of the hand and well, let's just say I kept a lot of black eyeliner around!

Obviously, this was not working. So, I gave Nair a try - you know, the stuff that is made for legs? It worked well enough, except for when I busied myself around the house and forgot I had it on. That is, until I received a reminder from the fire I felt over my eyes, which caused me to make a mad dash for the sink to rinse!

To cover this "oops", I chose to wear beige make-up in hopes that the bright red over my eyes might appear a mild and soft looking pink. While the make-up did its' job, the Nair proved to be a bust.

What is a girl to do? She moves on to waxing. Although, this can get expensive, and if you can't keep those regular appointments, you end up with a beautiful scene of eye fuzz - well, maybe not so beautiful. While this seemed to be the best method thus far, it still fell short of its' expected results.

After a decade of trial and error, I had a novel idea: pluck them! It only took once to realize that even though it hurt, it was the most effective method--The hairs came out from the roots so they didn't grow back as quickly or twice as thick as they did before - and best of all, no blunders!

If only I had done this in the beginning! I would have saved myself a lot of embarrassment, money, and the time it took to fix what I made worse.

The next thought that came to my mind was Ecclesiastes 3:2 "A time to pluck what was planted." God certainly has a way of getting my attention. I couldn't help thinking about the things in my life that I kept so dear.

Each of us has those things in our lives that have been with us since childhood which helped to form our attitudes and behaviors. One of my many unfortunate traits was the ability to hold a grudge. Much like those thicker hairs by the bridge of my nose, these grudges would dig deep and take root in my heart....Oh how I prided myself in the ability to make someone pay for the pain they caused me. It was the tool I wielded to keep from being hurt again. After all, I am no fool.

BUT GOD, in His grace showed me that this was not an accurate reflection of His character.

I knew this was the first thing He wanted to pluck from my life--things so deep, I couldn't understand why God would want me to forgive someone in spite of how they treated me. It's funny, in a sad sort of way,  the thing which I thought was keeping me safe was actually the very thing that kept me in bondage and robbed me of experiencing real joy.

Yet another Scripture comes to my mind, Mark 9:24 "Lord, I believe, but help my unbelief!" After considering this passage, I realized it applied to many areas of my life and it made sense to me to say "Lord, I am willing, but help my unwillingness!"

This is all Jesus wanted to hear. "Teresa, now that you are willing, I will take it from here."

In order to let go, the Lord had to show me what these things were doing to me and how they were affecting those around me. He had to let me see how they would need to be to be plucked by the roots. Not just a quick fix that would only cause more pain when the issue resurfaced later, but true removal of the root issues of my heart so that there could be room for God to plant what He wanted to see growing there from the beginning (Ephesians 4:4-10).

Because I do not have the greatest vision, whenever I pluck my eyebrows I have to be sure and position my face very close to the mirror so that I can get a good look at the hairs that need plucking. It's the same with my spiritual life. Since my spiritual vision is not what it should be, I must constantly allow the Lord to look closely into my heart.

It can be painful when God does the plucking, but I have discovered the benefits far outweigh the pain. With God doing the work, there are no mistakes, no disasters and no substitutes. Most importantly, I am happy and my load is lighter as there is no need to carry my "make-up" bag everywhere I go; I am free to look and feel beautiful from the inside out!

What a concept. If only I would have let Him do the work in the beginning...

These days, I breathe deeply, relax and say, "Okay, Lord, pluck away! I want to reflect the beauty of Your Son and experience genuine happiness.

BUT GOD--the most powerful phrase in the entire Bible. 

(C) Teresa Ortiz