In today's world of social media being all around us we see people posting pictures of the moments of their life. Each day is like a highlight reel of the good moments of yesterday, earlier today or even 5 minutes ago. But not matter what, by the time you see the picture, it is the past, not the present. A picture is always a capture of the past...even if that past was 5 minutes ago. And unfortunately with all the editing tools we have today, we can even make the worst pic look like the best one. We can edit the background. We can edit the lighting. We can edit all the blemishes or scars out of the picture. You can even edit an entire person out of the picture if your good enough. Which means a picture can be modified to not look anything like the real thing...the real moment. It may have been a gloomy day the day that pic was taken, but you can change the lighting in the pic to make it look like a nice sunny day. But that doesn't make it the truth, it just makes it a modification of the truth. The only true way to get a real time, real look at yourself is to stare face to face in a mirror at yourself. This is you. This is who you....scars, blemishes, wrinkles, whatever....anything that life has put on you is looking back at you in the mirror. There's no Photoshopping that moment. It is you, it is now and it sometimes the reason we don't like to look in the mirror.
The point of me saying all of that is because sometimes we would rather live life through all the pictures instead of facing reality. And that reality may be that we don't like the person that looks back at us in the mirror...for whatever reason that be. But this is not the way God wants you to look at yourself. He also does not want us living a "fake" life...like a bunch of Photoshopped pictures. What He would rather we do is look in the mirror and realize that no matter what you think of the person looking back at you, He loves that person. He would rather deal with that person looking back at you in the mirror than the person in the pictures trying to fake their way through life.
Pictures can be nice because they can capture a great moment in time and they can capture a memory that you love. But they can also cause us to constantly look back at what used to be, instead of looking at or dealing with the here and now. God wants nothing more than to help you with the here and now. He knows that dealing with person in the mirror, dealing with the here and now, is really the only way to build a better future. And He is always trying to get us to a better place.
If what stares back at you when you look in the mirror is a ton of regret, maybe some shame, maybe some guilt or maybe even a very unsure person...then God is exactly the one to help you. He loves you more than anyone ever has, or ever will.....just as you are. The reason I can say that and be so sure of it, is because God, and the person who looks back at you in the mirror, are the only two people who know every single detail of your life....every single one. And even in those moments that it's hard for us to love ourselves, He still loves us. It is in those moments that He wants us to just crawl up into His lap and be like that child who just needs a good cry. He wants to hold you and say..."it's ok, if you just deal with it all and let me help you, it can only get better from here".
If you struggle with the person that looks back at you in the mirror, let today be the last day for that. Don't live a fake life hiding behind "good pictures" of your life. His love is for ALL, and it covers ALL. Each of us probably know someone we can reach out to if we are struggling. Don't let pride, shame, guilt or embarrassment be the reason you don't get help today. Find someone who can point you to Jesus for the answers and then let them show you how.
As I have posted before, anyone that is struggling can email me. Anyone who is hunting for answers can reach out. Even if I don't have the exact answer for you, I know that God will help me put you in touch with someone to help you. Please feel free to reach out at wordsworththought@gmail.com . But no matter what, don't let this be just another day of not wanting to face that person in the mirror.
God, please help each and every one of us learn to love the person who looks back at us in the mirror. Not because we are being fake or living in denial, but because we are letting you do a work in us that allows us to see who we really are, and our need for You in our life. Let us give all of our ugliness over to You and allow You to show us just how beautiful you really created us to be. Thank You God for the healing You have waiting for us and help us to humble ourselves enough to reach out for it. In Jesus name, Amen
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