I Am Radiant

Then you will look and be radiant, your heart will throb and swell with joy.

—Isaiah 60:5

Apparently, we can now buy radiance in a bottle.

This is good news for those of us who woke up today only to discover we’re no longer fifteen. A glance in my own mirror this morning revealed more age spots and dark circles than a Dalmatian.

Radiance? Yes, please.

Aveeno markets their Positively Radiant skin care line with promises to “improve skin tone and radiance with clinically proven Total Soy Complex.”

If Aveeno isn’t your thing, you could go with L’Oreal. They have a RevitaLift Radiant Smoothing Cream Cleanser that “helps to remove all traces of makeup and impurities . . . gently exfoliates dead skin cells and helps enhance skin smoothness and radiance.”

Or how about Maybelline’s Instant Age Rewind Radiant Firming Makeup? I can shine, tighten, and take a decade off my aging-and-sagging self. All for the low price of $$899.

Well, there you go. Radiance for less than ten bucks. I’ll take twelve.

If only it worked. After much trial and error, I’m disappointed to report that none of the grandiose promises of the skin care market actually come true. A little moisturizer can do a girl (or guy) a world of good. But deliver radiance? I don’t think so.

Besides, I’ve met individuals who didn’t wear a stitch of makeup, yet light spilled from every pore. Something about their smile, the twinkle in their eyes, the peace of their demeanor delivered a unique glow.

And what is radiance, anyway? By definition, radiance is “a quality of brightness and happiness that can be seen on a person’s face; a warm, soft light that shines from something.” Inherent in the definition is the idea that the glow comes from an intense source, often a reflection of something outside of itself.

Like a pool deck radiating the heat of the summer sun.

Or the smooth surface of a lake reflecting the silver light of the moon.

Or, in the Old Testament, the face of Moses shining with the magnificent glory of his God.

The book of Exodus tells the story. At God’s invitation, Moses climbed Mount Sinai, where he spent forty days and forty nights in His presence (Ex. 24:18). During that time, God gave him the law His people were to follow (v. 12). From their distant camp, the Israelites saw the glory of God covering the mountain with a cloud. At the end of those forty days and nights, Moses once again descended Mount Sinai and rejoined his people. That’s when they noticed something remarkable about their man: “When Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the covenant law in his hands, he was not aware that his face was radiant because he had spoken with the LORD. When Aaron and all the Israelites saw Moses, his face was radiant, and they were afraid to come near him” (34:29–30).

Talk about a good makeup job! Spending time in God’s presence sparked a transformation of Moses’ face. Luminosity in its purest form. Bright enough to make everyone else afraid. That’s some serious radiance. Even more beautiful, Moses’ shine came secondary to his deep soul-hunger for God:

Oh, how I want to be the friend of God! To speak to the Lord face to face . . . I can hardly imagine it.

Moses’ kinship with his Creator was the source of his luminosity. Isn’t this the same gift we’ve been given? Paul, with the perspective of the New Testament, said this: “And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit” (2 Cor. 3:18).

The short of it is this: the more you and I spend time with our God, the more we reflect His radiance. Like a lake reflects the moon, or a face the sun. This is how some people, regardless of hardship and loss, can still shine. They don’t rely on manufactured radiance; they go to the source: the glory of God.

This is what I’m holding out for as I age and my beauty fades. I’ve grown weary of second-rate attempts at shine. I don’t want eight-dollar radiance. I want to glow with an otherworldly glory. I want to be like Moses, to spend my days soaking up the Light of Life, and thus become a reflection of Him. Glowing with a shine that can’t be washed off.

Radiance, of the divine variety? Free and guaranteed?

Yes, please. I’ll take me some of that.

It is only because he became like us that we can become like him.

—DIETRICH BONHOEFFER, THE COST OF DISCIPLESHIP