I’m Looking at the Woman in the Mirror

Yesterday, my morning prayer was: “Lord, please make me a reflection of You! May others see You in me!” Immediately, I heard, in my head, Michael Jackson’s song “I’m Looking at the Man in the Mirror”. I knew why. Days before, my debonair grandson who knows how to get to me, will either talk about his Papa or he'll pull up a song from my era (Elvis, the Beatles, Michael Jackson, etc.) on his iPhone playlist while we're driving. He asks: “Nana, do you remember this one?” Oh yes I do! He is a charmer and knows how to “ring my bell”! Michael's song went like this:
"I'm starting with the man in the mirror.
I'm asking him to change his ways.
And no message could have been any clearer.
If you want to make the world a better place.
Take a look at yourself, and then make a change."

Certainly good words to live by – being honest about who we are and what we can do to change our ways. Instead of looking at the faults in others, to look inward at ourselves. I get that, but my prayer yesterday was for the reflection I see to be my Lord.

Every day, we come face to face with a glance or a hard look at ourselves in a mirror. That first glance can often be a bit scary – our hair going every which way, eyes dazed, faces with creases from a hard sleep. Sometimes, facing our mirror and our reflection isn’t exactly a pleasant experience. Mirrors are brutally honest. They don’t lie. They don’t hide the wrinkles, the flaws, the signs of aging. They don’t typically say back to us “You’re looking good today!” They usually tell us to make some adjustments: comb your hair, put on a little make-up or for men – shave that “5 am shadow”. Actually, mirrors are a good thing. We face the truth, make some changes and feel a little better about facing the world.

But, this day – I wasn't asking God for that mirror. I asked for the mirror, or the reflection, looking back at me to be a reflection of Jesus. That can be a difficult reflection to see. Like that Michael Jackson song, looking at the man or woman in the mirror is more about the inside than the outside. Getting a clear vision of what needs to change. To look with eyes wide-open at the character flaws or the obvious lack of the Fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control that is needing some adjustments.

James 1:23-24 says "Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like.” That scripture implies we don't want to seriously confront that "man or woman in the mirror".

When we look at the mirror for exterior perfection, we'll never find it. But, if we start our day, each day, with that first prayer of asking to be a reflection of Jesus, we'll start to see His character, His beautiful grace and love to a hurting world instead of placing importance on make-up, shine-up, or dress-up.

The best mirror for checking out ourselves is the perfect mirror of God's Word ... Holy Scriptures. And, the only perfect image is Jesus. From that perspective, we can daily examine ourselves in THAT mirror and ask the question: Am I being all that God that God has called me to be? Am I allowing Him to mold me? Instead of looking at the man in the mirror and asking him to change his ways, we look to our perfect Make-up and Shine-Up Artist (for inside and out perfection) to transform us into His reflection by filling us full of His light and His glory! Then we will reflect His love, His truthfulness, His joy, His forgiveness and mercy to others, His selflessness, His servitude. That's the woman in the mirror I want to see and be! How about you?

Go Ahead. Judge a Watermelon By Its Cover!

Watermelon is my favorite summer fruit. It’s amusing to watch people thumping on watermelons trying to find the best one. I could never nail that sound. But HOLD ON Mr. Watermelon Thumper! I finally aced my watermelon sweetness picks. Here's the real deal on picking the sweetest watermelon:
~ Make sure it has a prominent yellow spot. This is where it sat on the ground ripening. No spot = premature pick = not ripe. ~
~ Look for "webbing". This is the brown, coarse web-looking material caused when bees pollinate the flower and scar the membranes that later form the fruit. The more pollination = more webbing = sweeter fruit. *****You're welcome!!!*****

Did you read between the lines of picking a sweet watermelon? We need to find the sweetest ones by looking for imperfections, flaws, defects, yellow spots, brown, coarse webbing, and scars.
Yes, we SHOULD judge a watermelon by its cover – but NEVER should we judge a book OR another person by their cover. Those perfect and well put together, dressed-to-the-nines folks might be filled with anger and hard-heartedness. And those with scars, body piercings, tattoos, or multi-colored hairdos might be the most genuine, loving and caring people with hearts after God and care more about others than we can imagine. Only God knows the hearts of His children and is their "fruit inspector".

Guilty -- as charged. I was at a church a couple of weeks ago and sat by a beautiful young woman who had tattoos all over her arms and legs. I hugged her and "God blessed her", but inwardly I was thinking "What was she thinking when she did all that?" Yes, I was judging. Then, on a video was a guy speaking who was all tattooed (from what I could see) except for his face. I think I may have gasped because the person I was with whispered:"He is the kindest, SWEETEST and devoted-to-Christ person you will ever meet." I later found out the gal beside me was his wife and "is also, the SWEETEST".

Immediately, I remembered when the Lord sent the prophet Samuel to Jesse's home to anoint the next king of Israel. Jesse had eight sons to choose from. Sure, with Samuel's eyes, it was plain to see that the obvious pick -- the tallest, most handsome, and best choice to be king would be Eliab. "But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the LORD sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart.” 1 Samuel 16:7.

That sounds a lot like the sweetness of a watermelon, doesn’t it? Little, ruddy, shepherd-boy-David was overlooked. In fact, he wasn’t even invited to the “beauty pageant”, but when Samuel asked “Are these all of your sons?” and when Jesse replied, “I have one more son – young shepherd boy David”, Samuel asked for him to brought to him. We know the rest of that story. Young David was anointed king of Israel that day. His heart was a heart after God's own heart. (1 Samuel 13:14)

What God cares about the most is the sweetness of the fruit that is growing inside us. Our Master "Picker" sees that we are all very precious and valuable and He is always "checking out our flaws and imperfections", giving us "heavenly" thumping because He's very aware of the "maturing" that needs to go on inside.

Obviously, this post is pointed at you with one-finger. The other four are pointing back at me. I'm on a mission to have my Father's eyes. Eyes that find the good in things and people; eyes full of compassion and sensitivity -- NOT looking at the outward appearance. Sure we all have imperfections and flaws and that's a good thing because, like the watermelon -- the greater the flaws and imperfections.....the sweeter the fruit. I certainly want the Fruit of the Spirit to be a reflection of He who is the sweetest and most desirable in me. May we be imitators of our Creator and rather than the desire to BE beautiful....that we desire to create His beauty everywhere WE ARE and everywhere WE GO!