Whenever I go to the beauty salon, I must be prepared, oddly enough, to look anything but beautiful--at least to start with.

Sitting beneath an unflattering waterproof cape, I permit someone to work on my straggly hair. As it gets drastically cut, soaked with smelly solution, wrapped around tiny curlers, and then encased in a piece of plastic until it "takes," I steal a glance in the mirror. Horrified, I invariably ask myself, "Why am I paying someone to do this to me?" The satisfying answer is always the same: I hope to walk out of there looking fantastic.

That's the way it is in our Christian walk. This world is God's workshop, where He skillfully changes our lives through trials of faith to make us more like Christ. At times we are horrified at how we look and feel. Paul, urging us not to lose heart, called our trials "light affliction, which is but for a moment" (2 Cor. 4:17). Our trials are achieving for us an eternal glory that will far outweigh them all.

This "hope of glory" is what gives us assurance while God is still working on us. One day, when we exit this world and see Christ face to face, we will be like Him and reflect His beauty.  — Joanie Yoder