...what do you see?

A mirror reflects but sometimes it only complicates the problem.

You would think a mirror enables vision, makes what is visible clear and shows what is really in front of it, wouldn’t you?

But often for many of us the whole picture or image is too much to take in, maybe it will take us a life time to see, appreciate and understand the whole of who we are. As in life, dealing with tasks in bite size chunks is the easiest way to gain any sense of achievement. Sometimes all of who we are is difficult to comprehend. We are each unique and complex, often contradictory and unsure.

We frequently look at all we are and more than likely come up with many areas of ourselves and/or our lives that we feel don’t live up to our expectations, or that of God, if you are a Christian like me.

So how do we feel?

Less than perfect?

Do you ever want to cover the mirror?

Or Look away?

And why do we only look at extremes in the mirror? Those parts which are the best and those which are the worst? The extremes which not only complicate and confuse the problem, but highlight the gulf that exists between the two. Holding a mirror up to all that is good and less so, about ourselves and our lives can be both a pleasurable and painful experience.

As we move into a New Year, I have been encouraged to look away from the old and move to the new.

Romans 12:2

“Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”

So as we look in the mirror are we able to see what God sees? Does God prefer the parts of us that we like or those that we look away from? And why do we feel the need to look away from what is reflected?

For me, the word in Romans 12 that is important is the word ‘test’.

It means that God expects our mirrors to reflect imperfections – or even that what we see as imperfections may not be the same in God’s eyes. And it is only through testing that we will be able to discern God’s will. Not just His laws but His true will for each of our lives.