I picked it up Brittany Fichter’s before beauty I’m looking forward to a nice, clean reproduction of beauty and the beast. What I got instead was a story that went straight to my heart and pointed me to the heart of the gospel. At the heart of Fichter’s book is a story about a prince named Everard who forgets his first love (the mysterious, gentle Maker he walked with as a child) and the ancient sacred fortress that protects and judges his kingdom. As a result, the curse slowly turns him into a monster, a process that can only be stopped by a return to trust and love.
As you read, before beautyIt became impossible to miss the parallels with the Bible.
As you read, before beautyIt became impossible to miss the parallels with the Bible.
Everard is all of us, knowing the Lord and initially walking with Him, only to let pride, hurt, and distraction pull us apart until sin began to hurt our souls. A fortress is like God the Father. It is sacred, unapproachable in power, the source of all life and law, and terrifying when that holiness is ignored. The Creator is undoubtedly Christ. He is a kind being who speaks to him in visions, who has been wounded for Everard’s sake, and who keeps whispering to him, “Please come back. The path is now open.” In the end, Isabel, a young woman who despite the wounds Everard inflicted on her, speaks the truth about Everard’s life and tries to bring him back from the brink of death, feels like the Holy Spirit is drawing his wandering heart home.
Revelation 2:4-5 “But I hold this against you. You have abandoned your first love. Think of how far you have fallen! Repent and do what you did in the first place.”
The turning point in the story occurs when Everard finally remembers his Maker, falls to his knees, and carries out his will, no matter the cost. In that moment of surrender, the stronghold and the Maker move together to break the curse in a breathtaking picture of repentance, salvation, and the truth that the arms of God open the moment we return to our first love.
Closed before beauty I had tears in my eyes, not just because the romance is beautiful (though it is), but also because I had just watched the story of the Prodigal Son, which takes place in a forbidden castle. Brittany Fichter may not have set out to write an allegory, but the gospel is woven so deeply into this story that it preaches to me.
It’s strange that God is everywhere, even though that’s not really the case. He’s right next to you, even when you’re not looking. God promises to never leave us or forsake us. You can find God anywhere if you look carefully enough. He even says that he will cooperate in everything for the benefit of those who love him. So, for all the naysayers who say you can’t find God in anything, God appeared right before my eyes through what I thought was just a retelling of one of my favorite Disney movies. Of course, we must have discernment, because many things can be bad for us and can lead us wrong, but not everything. And God sees your heart and knows it.
This is the message that before beauty Burned into my heart: We must never forget our first love. God is not just one love among many. He always deserves to be number one. There will be seasons in your life that will feel like sadness, pain, and a curse. We all drag our feet sometimes. We will hurt others and we will hurt ourselves. Trials will come, some of them intense. But just as we can trust in a Creator who has already shed His blood for us, we can trust in a stronghold that will never crumble and a Holy Spirit who will never abandon us. God knows what is best for us far more than we ourselves.
God will never fail us, He will never abandon us, He will never stop calling us home. No matter how far we wander or how skewed our choices are, the moment we turn and say, “I want to go home,” the Father runs, the Son rejoices, and the Spirit carries us the rest of the way.
So put God first. Love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. Trust God through every storm and through every drag. Your first love is still waiting with open arms and whispering your name. It’s never too far to go home.
Source: Christ and Pop Culture – christandpopculture.com
