Sometimes we need to take a second look in the mirror to see what’s
really going on. How we see ourselves can be a very different view from how
other’s see us. Every time I use my motorhome this is brought into particularly
sharp focus. It’s shower-room has a great corner mirror. So with the split
reflection I see myself side by side, both as in a normal mirror, on the right,
and also the reversed view… which is exactly as the whole world normally sees
me. So I’m right handed and no way would I normally take a photo with my left
hand, no matter what my ‘normal’ reflection shows. And until I grew my hair I
had a side parting on the left, though I only ever saw it as being on my right.
Most confusing, and not a little odd to come face to face with such reality.
Yes the guy I normally see wears his watch on the wrong arm, has a shirt pocket
on the wrong side and buttons fastened just like a woman’s blouse. How weird is
that? I now wear my wedding ring on my right hand so the reflection looks
correct for a married man. Though I’m not anymore. Question is, when I look at
myself do I still see myself as married? Maybe I need to take it off all
together and store it with Jane’s rings… that’s a biggy. It sort of signifies
that I’m embracing singleness. But I’m certainly not ready for a new
relationship, though chance would be a fine thing anyway. And maybe I’ll never
be ready, it sounds well scary. Oh to be that rather naïve teenager I once was,
content with playing in a rock band and not too fussed when a girl asked me
out. Hey, I pretty much behaved myself! Sort of. Ok, not really. So anyway, I
think I was born a perfect gentleman, but maybe other’s see me differently?
Anyway relational etiquette is very different from where I stand today. Yes the
Lord is my sole companion right now and my aim is to walk with him into
whatever he has for me. Learning to be content with my new reality is a
challenge though.
So how does the Lord see me? I reckon neither of these perspectives is
even close to God’s viewpoint. I suppose I mostly see my mistakes and focus
upon the areas of life I struggle with. Like negativity. Those around me will
commonly have to deal with my failings, maybe misunderstanding things I’ve said
or misinterpreting motives in some of the things I’ve done. It’s so easy to just
get things out of proportion, so easy to damage relationships with incorrect preconceptions.
And stubbornness. God’s not like any of that. Not at all. He formed each one of
us in the womb. No exceptions! Only he can breathe life and bring a person into
being. I am not who I am by chance. Ok along the way I’ve messed things up, a
thousand times. But the Lord still sees me as being on track, he never gives up
on any of us. He always has a way forward, from wherever we find ourselves. All
he asks is that we reach out to him and he’ll respond. Yes, he really does see
the end from the beginning. One day I’ll be living in heavenly perfection. I
find that hard to even imagine, but the Lord doesn’t. That’s how he sees me and
relates to me right now. Somehow that’s a standard I need to live up to. And
also how I need to begin to see those around me…
Ephesians 1:4 ‘Even
before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and
without fault in his eyes.’ (NLT)
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