The Deceitfulness of Beauty

How can something so beautiful be so deceptive?
When we just experienced our worst ice storm in history here in OKC (or so they are saying) this past week, that question kept coming to my mind. The beauty of the icicles hanging so brilliantly on everything had an almost "Narnia" beauty about it as you looked out at the trees, the roof lines, the patio furniture, the ice covered grass, and even the slick roads. There was something so captivating in the picturesque scenes throughout the city. So, you ask, what is the deception?

It is kind of like the verse in Proverbs about the virtuous woman......31:30 "Charm is deceitful and beauty is vain" (or in the NLT...."beauty does not last")!! The superficial look does not say it all...........in women or in icicles!! Both can be very devastating if the "beauty is on too thick"!! In the case of the ice, the destructive effects are still with us. We still do not have the use of our home phone (which I must admit is not all bad!!) Our phone has not been this silent in years!! But.........where would we be without cell phones?? The only ones who really can't reach us are the telemarketers!!

The first day of the storm (Monday) there were over 600,000 homes without power. After about 24-36 hours, that number had decreased to around 400,000. Now, I believe it is about 100,000, and some of those are looking at 30 days before it is restored. That is just an example of the deceitfulness of the "beauty".

If you want to see some visuals of what I am saying, check out some photos from a local source here. As they say, a picture is worth a thousand words.

And as far as the woman........the rest of that verse says "but a woman who fears the LORD will be greatly praised." That is real beauty..........with no deception!!!