Mirror Mirror

Have you ever looked in the mirror and been totally shocked by what you see there?

I'm not talking about bad hair days or black circles (I have so many of those they've ceased to be a shock). I'm talking about looking into the eyes of the person on the other side of the glass and discovering someone you don't recognize.

Sometimes the change is bad - you've fallen into sin or despair so consuming that it has warped your soul and the person you see is beaten and lost. You don't recognize her because it wasn't that long ago that you remember things were going along fine. Life was good. Sometimes you know why that changed - you lost someone or something precious - and sometimes you don't. There's a stranger looking out of your eyes and she's hurt so deeply you wonder if you will ever be "You" again.

Then there are the other times when the change is good - you are used to seeing a person worn out by the cares of life and all of a sudden, or maybe slowly over time, you see someone who is content, at peace, and dare you hope joyful? about life. Maybe for the first time in your life you like who you see. Maybe for the first time in your life you see that you are experiencing the "peace of God that transcends all understanding" (Phillipians 4:7) you've heard so much about. Amen!

I find myself in the latter category today and my heart bubbles over with praise. Life has been such a struggle for such a long time that on my weak days I find myself sure that things can never and will never be different. Yet here I am.

Despite my sin, despite my failings, despite my numerous imperfections, God scooped me up and held me in His arms and is working to make me a complete and perfect Child. I look in the mirror and I discover that the face I spent so much time hating is now so full of... potential. Oh! To be ready to be used by God!