Mirror Image

1 Corinthians 13:12 "Now we see only a dim likeness of things. It is as if we were seeing them in a mirror. But someday we will see clearly. We will see face to face. What I know now is not complete. But someday I will know completely, just as God knows me completely."

This week I started watching sweet baby Lyric while youngest daughter works. It has been a lesson in just how much energy I don't have and how much I forgot about having a toddler around. I definitely need my time at the gym to build up my endurance for keeping up with her boundless energy.

While looking for things to decorate youngest daughter's work space in the music studio, I found a mirror we no longer needed. Lyric was immediately fascinated by the her reflection. She kept trying to touch the bright colors and movements she saw. She grew frustrated when she couldn't touch what she reached for. She pounded on the glass as if trying to force her way into what she saw as a part of her world.

She would turn and look at me as if to ask why she couldn't see me standing there with her. She knew I was in the room but because of the angle at which I was standing, my reflection wasn't there. She knew that the kitchen table was in her room but why wasn't it in the room she could see just beyond her reach? Her little mind was racing with new thoughts.

She finally just began babbling away in her tiny person voice, having a conversation with an unknown person, telling them who knows what about her little world. Her reflection smiled when she smiled, laughed when she laughed, reached out their hand when she reached out hers, danced when she danced.

It struck me as I read the verse in 1 Corinthians this morning that so much of our lives are like Lyric's time in front of the mirror. We can see a reflection of ourselves, sometimes dimly, sometimes clearly. We know that there is more than is shown in the picture that we see in front of us. We try desperately to peer around the frame of our lives, looking, searching, squinting for something more than what we see. But perhaps we aren't supposed to see anything else right now. Perhaps God's plan is for us to just learn to see the person we see in front of us in the mirror. See ourselves for how perfectly wonderfully made we are. Psalm 139:14 reminds us that "I praise You because I am fearfully and wonderfully made".  The person in the mirror is a reflection of a child of God, made for one purpose. To return to Him. We can't be a reflection of Him if we don't like who we are.

I promise you, dear friend, that your Abba looks at you and sees past the dirt and grime of our lives. He sees into our hearts and souls. He hears our pleas and the groaning's of our prayers, both said and unsaid. Nothing you have done or said or thought will keep you from Him if you keep one thing in mind. "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life. God sent His Son into the world not to judge the world but to save the world through Him." John 3:16-17

When you get up today and look in the mirror, picture Christ Himself standing beside you with His hands on your shoulders. Remind yourself that nothing is greater than Your God and His love for you. Let your life reflect that perfect Love. For you are His and You are loved.

Dearest Father God, Thank You for showing us that we are your children. Thank You for allowing us to reflect You in our lives. Let us seek every opportunity to reflect the love You have for us so that others might see You with greater clarity. We want to be like You in every part of our lives. Let us see our future with You every time we look in the mirror. We love You Lord, In Christ's most precious Name, Amen

copyright2011 Michelle Welch, team member of Breath Of Life Women's Ministries
photography by Michelle Welch, all rights reserved
originally posted 9/3/2011
scriptures from NIV Bible