Before we deal with the subject of one being “ugly versus beautiful,” the Bible tells us that “God is love.” 1 John 4:7-8 says, “Beloved, let us love one another, for LOVE IS OF GOD; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God, FOR GOD IS LOVE” (NKJV). Do you believe this? If you believe the Bible is God’s perfect, inerrant Word and that “God cannot lie” (Titus 1:2), you will not question in your heart that God is love, despite these questions that are making you doubt this wonderful truth. I would encourage you to read on in verses 9-10 to see God’s perfect manifestation of love in sending His only begotten Son into the world so we can have eternal life (read also John 3:16).

Now let’s tackle those questions. It is true that God did make some people with “outward beauty.” One of the first examples of this is in Genesis 26:6-7, “So Isaac dwelt in Gerar. And the men of the place asked about his wife. And he said, ‘She is my sister’; for he was afraid to say, ‘She is my wife,’ because he thought, ‘lest men of the place kill me for Rebekah, because SHE IS BEAUTIFUL TO BEHOLD’.” What do we learn from this passage? It is no doubt true that Rebekah was beautiful, but did her beauty result in a wonderful life filled with admiration and compliments? Not in this case! Her beauty led Isaac to lie (for fear of his life) and she was an object of men’s lust. As we read the story of Rebekah’s life, we also learn that she was once a DECEIVER who taught her son to deceive (see Genesis 27:1-29). As we shall see in a minute, “OUTWARD BEAUTY is not good if there is no INWARD BEAUTY.”

Another example is Saul, the first king of Israel. We read this of Saul, “There was not a more handsome person that he among the children of Israel. From his should upward he was taller than any of the people” (1 Samuel 9:1-2). Because of his OUTWARD BEAUTY the people of Israel chose him to be their king, yet he proved to be a tyrant over the people. God later chose David to be their king. He did not have the outward beauty that Saul had, and this stumbled Samuel the prophet who was to anoint David to be their next king. Samuel was taken up with David’s brother Eliab (1 Samuel 16:6) because of his beauty and stature.  Listen to what God told Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have refused him. For the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart” (verse 7). God chose David because he had INWARD BEAUTY; he wanted to glorify God in his life and be a real blessing for the people of Israel.

It’s not that God never uses “beautiful people” for His honor and glory, for in the book of Esther we read that she “was lovely and beautiful” (Esther 2:7) and that God used that beauty to deliver his people from being destroyed. Yet it was her “inward beauty” that made her truly “beautiful in the eyes of the Lord.” She, like David, had a humble heart that caused her to love God and His people and was willing to even die for them if need be (you must read the whole book to learn this). I would encourage you to read Proverbs 31:10-31 to see that “it’s not a women’s OUTWARD BEAUTY that is attractive to the Lord, but godly behavior that displays their INWARD BEAUTY.”

So, why does God make some people “ugly?” We might go further in our thoughts and ask, “Why does God make some people with birth defects or diseases of any kind?” I believe our first human parents (Adam and Eve) were created in absolute perfection. They were perfectly healthy; they were outwardly beautiful; and they were innocent in their nature. They walked with God and enjoyed their benevolent Creator UNTIL they disobeyed His one command and sin came into the world (Genesis 1:26-31; 2:15-24; 3:1-8 with Romans 5:12). Along with sin came birth defects, diseases and finally, DEATH (Romans 6:23). In God’s sovereign wisdom He allows some to be born without “outward beauty” and with ugly effects of sin. God told Moses in Exodus 4:11, “Who has made man’s mouth? Or who makes the MUTE, the DEAF, the seeing, or the BLIND. Have not I, the LORD? We must accept God’s perfect will in these matters and if we are believers in Jesus Christ, we can cling to His promise to us in Romans 8:28, “For we know that ALL THINGS WORK TOGETHER FOR GOOD to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.” We must believe that God “feels our pain and cares for us” when we are suffering from the results of SIN that came into the world (1 Peter 5:7) and that He has a PURPOSE in every trial He allows us to pass through, which would include being born handicapped in some way or sick (1 Corinthians 10:13 and 1 Peter 1:6-7). And let us lay hold of the promise that one day the Lord Jesus will come for us to REDEEM OUR BODIES to deliver us from all the effects of sin (Roman 8:18:23 with Philippians 3:20-21). Then we shall be perfect in every way, with perfect BODIES, perfect MINDS, and with a perfect NATURE “of LOVE and HOLINESS.”  (DO)  (652.5)