Thursday, October 21, 2010

Mirror, Mirror!

 I remember reading the fairy tale "Snow White" when I was around eight or nine. As I read the story, the words "Mirror, mirror on the wall, who is the fairest of them all?" became a chant that was a part of my play time for years to come. Whether Barbies or dress up, my friends and I would prance in front of a mirror and giggle as we recited it.

As I got older, the mirrors grew up too. They became my classmates around me who I would check with often to make sure I was "cool" enough. The mirrors became the boys I dated to make sure they thought I was pretty enough. They became the bosses at my jobs to measure if I was good enough. They became the magazine models to make sure I was skinny enough. The teachers to tell me if I was smart enough.

As an artist, I used mirrors all the time to check drawings, especially portraits. I would begin a sketch, get it roughed out and then hold it up to the mirror. Amazingly enough, it would show me where my proportions were off and I would then be able to correct it. I know the value of using a mirror to readjust and correct. The problem is I have been looking in the wrong mirrors.

 I woke up the other morning with this verse on my mind:
22Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. 23Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror 24and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. 25But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it—he will be blessed in what he does. James 1:22-25
I meditated on it yesterday and woke this morning with revelation. I have been looking in the wrong mirrors to make corrections in my life. I have been looking to:
My husband -  who is a very good man but not a good mirror to judge who I am.
My children - also awesome people who God loves very much, but they make a  horrible mirror.
My job - thankful for the resources and income it provides but it does not define me.
The list goes on and on. It could include any ministry I am a part of, friends in my life, accomplishments. Do you see, the list truly does go on and on. I have used all of these things to look into and get a glimpse of who I thought I was. The problem is, they are bad mirrors that are broken and in need of correction and fixing.

Let's look at that solution verse in Jame 1:25, but this time using The Message Bible.
. 25But whoever catches a glimpse of the revealed counsel of God—the free life!—even out of the corner of his eye, and sticks with it, is no distracted scatterbrain but a man or woman of action. That person will find delight and affirmation in the action. James 1:25
 Only the Word of God can tell me in TRUTH who I am in Christ. Other things may give me momentary glimpses that are fact, but they are based upon the needs of the person I am looking at or my own emotional responses to their needs. Only the Word of God that is submitted to and activated by walking it out will be a true reflection of who I am.

So, who am I in Christ? I am chosen, loved, redeemed by the Blood. I am forgiven and a co-heir. I am a daughter of the Most High God. I am so much more than what I have been looking at and seeing through the eyes and hearts of others.

Here is the bottom line - I have old habits in my life that need validation to say "I'm Okay" or "I am right." Through revelation, I now know which mirror to look in and someday I will reflect and show the love of God who is even now filling me.

Praise Be to God from Whom ALL blessings come!

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