Mirror, Mirror on the Wall

Mirror, Mirror on the Wall

Psalm 51:10-15, The Message Bible

"God, make a fresh start in me, shape a Genesis week from the chaos of my life. Don't throw me out with the trash, or fail to breathe holiness in me. Bring me back from gray exile; put a fresh wind in my sails! Give me a job teaching rebels your ways so the lost can find their way home. Commute my death sentence, God, my salvation God, and I'll sing anthems to your life-giving ways. Unbutton my lips, dear God; I'll let loose with your praise. "

I remember standing in a Macy’s department store, trying on jewelry and out of the corner of my eye catching a glimpse of a young woman across the aisle. I instantly loved her outfit and thought, “I would totally wear that!”

Turns out, I literally would wear that. The glimpse I caught of the woman was actually a reflection of myself in a mirror across the way. Can you imagine? There I was trying on gorgeous bracelets, locking eyes with some girl and for a split second the girl staring back at me seemed like a stranger in a cute outfit!

My reaction when reality dawned was priceless. I laughed for the next two days over that ‘blonde’ moment and blamed it on low caffeine counts in my blood. (Although, you should know, I am not blonde and am rarely without caffeine!)

I wonder if you have ever come face to face with yourself and not recognized who you saw. Perhaps not quite as ridiculously as I that day, but have you ever just sat back after doing something regretful and thought, “What was that? Who am I becoming?” or “How could I have just made that decision?”

Sin has a way of staring us down. It wants us to know just what we have done and how ‘bad’ we are. The enemy has a real knack for tempting us into something wrongfully appealing at the time and then turning it around into a blame game the moment we have given in. He is titled the Accuser for a reason. Day and night he not only accuses God before us, he accuses us before God!

Psalm 51 is my go-to Psalm when I am feeling a bit unfamiliar to myself. The words are painful to pray because I feel they break the heart of my Maker…but there is beauty in redemption, this I know. There is healing in forgiveness.

The most humbling of moments in my life have been when I am sprawled out face down on the floor speaking to my Savior, “Make a fresh start in me. Shape a Genesis week from the chaos of my life… breathe your holiness into me…bring me back…I will praise you.”

There is something to be said about raw honesty before the Lord. Take David for example, Psalm 51 is his prayer plea after having murdered a man because he had impregnated his wife! Come on now – talk about poor decisions!

The powerful reality of the Cross of Christ is that we are never too far-gone for forgiveness. It is still just as accessible this day as it was on the very first day Christ arose. What was offered to the disciples is offered today to you. The sinful cords that once entangled us are still broken! Death has been defied. Christ is alive. And there is nothing that can separate us from the redeeming work of Christ Jesus, overflow to the many.

I encourage you to be honest before the Lord. Open up and tell Him your struggles, where you feel you are missing the mark and ask for a fresh breath of His holiness.

These days I am finding I don’t want to recognize myself in the mirror. Every day I am praying I look more and more like my Savior and less and less like a woman of this world. Let us find our identity in Christ. It is my very heart’s desire to see us whole and holy before Him.

Father God,

So many times I miss the mark and fall into sin. Breathe your holiness into me! Create a new beginning in {this area} of my life. Help me to embrace your forgiveness and live out the promise of redemption you have given me in Your Son, Jesus.

Before You alone my lips let loose praise. Lord, I thank you for your life-giving ways.
Amen.

Questions for reflection:
~What “identity crisis” moments have you had lately? What lies would the enemy have you believe about yourself?

~According to Scripture, who does Christ say you are?

~In what ways today can you focus your mind on the redeeming power of the Cross and the forgiveness Christ’s blood has made available to you?