Mirror, Mirror...

From "God's Astounding Opinion of You," (Chapter 1)

When we see our failures, struggles, and shortcomings, we begin to believe we are truly a mess in need of a lot of changes. What's wrong with that? Soon we'll become fascinated and fixated with ourselves instead of God. And that's tragic.

To a point, I think that we need to see our failures, struggles, and shortcomings. But we also have to balance that with who we are in Christ. I need to see myself as a sinner in need of a Savior. I need to look a Jesus and see Him as my redeemer, my hope, my life. Unless I see my "unsaved" condition, that will not fully happen.

The road to this point is different for different people. For some, it is a special moment when they are at a rock-bottom place and they have no where else to turn. For others, it is after repeated attempts to fix ourselves. For others, it is after years of knowing about Jesus but not really knowing Him. For others, it might be a combination of the above.

I would have to say that my journey is that of a mix. It has had its ups and downs. It has had times of trials where without God, I doubt I would be here today. It has also had times when things were going well and I took back some of the reigns again. Old habits die hard.

One of the problems I have when things are going well is I lose my vision of God. I also lose my vision of who I am. Not that I am a sinner prone to failure, but that I am a redeemed sinner, who needs to keep his eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of my salvation. Seeing myself not only as redeemed, but forever seeing my redeemer as well.

Yes, I will fail at some points, but that does not make me a failure. It only means that my love for my redeemer should increase. I cannot help but think of David, after his encounter with Bathsheba and the murder of Uriah. God said that his consequence was the life of his first-born with Bathsheba. David begged and pleaded for the child's life. Those around him thought when the news of the child's death was reported to him, his behavior would only worsen. But it didn't. David cleaned himself up and got on with his life. David accepted God's consequence. David was a man after God's own heart. When he fell, he did not lose sight.