There is something encouraging about the word radiant. It encapsulates positivity; it is overflowing with joy. It is being the sunlight in the rain. It is a light in the darkness. It dismantles discouragement. It brings hope in times of trouble. It is a smile in your heart that is backed by a faith so strong that nothing can shake it.

In Psalm 34:5, we find a person who is willing to humble herself, to look up to God for help in her difficult situations and impossible circumstances, in faith — to be radiant. The Hebrew word for radiance means to “beam with joy.” It is the the outward appearance of a beauty that actually flows from an inward condition–a heart that is overflowing with joy. Not a joy that comes easily, but a joy that is fought for relentlessly and guarded vigilantly against the threats that seek to steal it away. A joy that is not dependent upon circumstances, but one that is grounded in a faith that is so deep it cannot be extinguished, even by the most threatening of adversaries. Radiance is the the physical evidence of someone taking God at His Word. It is the visual display of the story He is writing on their life. A calm delight and a confidence in hope. A brilliant beauty that entices us to leave the mundane offerings of the world and run the race that is set out before us to become serious-minded women who beam with joy to every corner of the universe.

Those who look to Him are radiant with joy.

Psalm 34:5