The Man In My Reflection

I'm sometimes troubled by a truth that I'm unable to deal with on my own and one that brings me back to the foot of the cross in humility on a regular basis. When I look in the mirror, the image that I'm confronted with is really not the completed image of the person that I really long to see...

As much as I desperately want to be changed into the image of Jesus completely and reflect that image clearly moment by moment 24/7, every time I look in the mirror, I'm still confronted to a degree with the image of a man of faults. As much as I've been changed by His grace over the years, I find that the closer that I draw near to my Lord in relationship, the farther I see that I have yet to go in my quest to replicate His image and character. If I weren't aware of the simple truth, I might easily become disheartened and begin to question the continued effort. However, His faithfulness and grace give me an unending hope and the comfortable knowledge that one day I will become a completed work in His image.

Having inhabited and been inundated by the attitudes and thinking of a world that doesn't reflect the mind of Christ, I find myself having to unlearn some of what I've been exposed to on a daily basis and consequently shaped by to a degree. It seems that the closer I draw to my Lord, the more clearly I see the example that I strive to replicate and the more clearly I see that the man in the mirror doesn't measure up against His example. His perfection is something that I recognize that I could never replicate on my own and my patience continues to be forced to extend and grow as I wait in quiet expectation of His grace to continue His work in me.

Though much more rare than in the past, on occasion I sometimes still catch myself in moments of disappointment with the man in the mirror - suddenly finding him lacking in a moment of testing yet again. The failure might be seen in a moment when I'm faced with someone unhappy over my carrying out the duties of a manager's job that I've been hired to do. In that job I'm occasionally forced to confront people who don't follow the rules and once in a while it causes their emotions to run high. Every now and then, when faced with the heat of their frustration and their derogatory comments, I find my own emotions rising. I'm careful to know that I'm right in my actions and I'm careful about what I say in the conversation - but I'm angered by their disrespect ... and it shows. Thinking about it later, I realize that that very moment of confrontation was the moment that I had the opportunity to show them someone else - someone other than the man in the mirror and my heart breaks at the recognition that I failed once again.  

Even though in the eyes of the world I did nothing wrong - I did what I was supposed to do on behalf of my employer, I know in reflection that I had an opportunity to be wiser. I had the opportunity to be wise enough to recognize the moment in which I could have presented a character uncommon in this worldly society - one that would have taken the fire out of the moment and left them surprised and curious - one that could make an impression on them that they couldn't easily dismiss. Jesus' teaching, comments and responses were always perfect, positive in their nature and always positively impacting. The depth of His wisdom and discernment in His encounters always tended to reach beneath the surface and address the brokenness within in a way that had the potential to yield an eternally positive result if it was responded to properly by those who listened. I want to do that ... in every encounter ... every time - without fail. Not for my own benefit, but desperately for the benefit of those I encounter and for my Lord. I so much want to make a difference in every opportunity in the time that I have left. The best way to do that ... is to present them with someone other than myself - someone so attractive in loving spirit and perfect wisdom that He's absolutely irresistible. That someone is Jesus.

At the time that Jesus entered the world, the Jews were looking for the Messiah to come and free them from Roman rule. They were looking for a king of worldly might and power to lead them into battle for their freedom - someone to take victory by violence and bloodshed. But Jesus came knowing and seeing the far bigger battle with far greater consequences - what was truly and eternally at risk. Consequently He began a campaign to deliver not only a nation, but a world from a far more dangerous and insidious oppression that they weren't even able to see. The staggering power of the weapons that He wielded in battle are still effective and still being felt over 2000 years later. He won the battle for eternal everlasting freedom for people who didn't then and don't now deserve it - and even for people who have despised Him in the past. His weapons were simple but they are effective and they aren't something that He just talked about, but something that He displayed by His actions and lived out in profound ways. 

His humility even as the Son of God - one entitled to every reverence and worship, and His love to lay down His life for common and totally undeserving sinners like myself is still astoundingly powerful, heart rending and hard for limited minds to comprehend. The extension of His grace, limitless in its capacity and not only revealed in His sacrifice, but in His compassionate, and faithful daily provision to sustain what He has created is absolutely in conflict with worldly values and thinking. But these things are wholly in keeping with the beauty of His character. His love for even the most despicable of creatures, including those who continue to deny and defy Him is amazing, powerful and limitless. His patience is astounding and His wisdom in every moment is perfect and perfectly powerful. His humility in the face of His position and His own massive and omnipotent power is breathtaking and so refreshingly contrary to human striving and His character is never betrayed or overruled by His emotion. He is so beautiful and perfect ... unlike the man in the mirror.

The beauty of His character and the pure truth of His teaching repeatedly drew multitudes to Him. People were drawn by His endearing pure character and captivated by His wisdom. He gave us His life and character while on the earth as an example for us to follow - one that I long to replicate to His pleasure and one that in reflection I know that the man in the mirror yet falls short of. So what am I to do with this man? I can only continue to sincerely confess his marred reflection, repent of his distortion and humbly submit him to the One who ultimately has the power to change him. 

The truth of my continued hope for Christs reflection to come into focus in that mirror is based in His unending grace as well as His deep love and desire for me. He holds up a mirror unaffected by the distortion of my own views of myself and shows me the man that He sees - a man that He loves, one slowly but persistently changed by His grace and one quite far from the man that he was in the past. My occasional agonized impatience is answered by His repeated assurance that His grace is sufficient and new for me every day and that He never fails in anything that He lovingly undertakes. 

It's true that caterpillars don't become butterflies over night, but the transformation is obviously worth the wait. It may sometimes seem like a painstakingly slow process that I find myself in as I continue to do my part in submission to daily make the effort to get it right, but I'm a far bigger project than a caterpillar and ultimately the real changes are His masterful work in me. So regardless of my occasional impatience and the disappointment I may find in myself while in transformation, He knows and sees the end result and He loves what He sees. In the end, the results are already paid for and guaranteed. So even though I'm not yet seeing the perfect image of the one I desire most to reflect perfectly, I still have plenty of reason for gratitude and joy while I continue to march on ... patiently.

This might sound like religious rhetoric to some and if it does, they have my sympathy whether they want it or not. I happen to know what they're missing and my heart breaks for them. It's not rhetoric and it's not even what's known to be religious these days - it's life to me. It's a life that has a reason, a hope and a purpose along with all of the endless rewards. It's a life in relationship with the very God who created me with a purpose and a reason for being. It's an existence of interpersonal relationship that began the moment when He formed me and one that based on His purpose, was never intended to end. It's a relational existence that supersedes everything else that I encounter as He walks me through every situation and every event in this life - teaching me continually as we go how to become someone that He can even more closely relate to.

There's a knowledge, an immovable and unchangeable absolute rock solid conviction embedded deep within my soul that tells me that the purpose of my life from the very moment that He conceived to create me until the very last day of my never ending existence ... is to know Him as He is and to be known and enjoyed by Him. 

As He gave me life, He also gave me a character to develop and a lifetime here on this little sphere of dirt to develop it. If I work to develop it according to His instruction and counsel, then it becomes like a woman's sweet perfume to Him - an essence to be endlessly enjoyed as we relate one to another in unending days beyond. On the other hand, if I elect to use my free will to disregard Him and His counsel, that character will become fouled by the stench of my own disregard and disobedience toward Him and will ultimately void my purpose. Because ...

I was created for His pleasure. 

Revelation 4:11(NLT)

"You are worthy, O Lord our God, to receive glory, honor and power. For you created everything, and it is for your pleasure that they exist and were created."

Please think about it ... 

                                                 

What's in your heart? ...