Don't fear the mirror

I had the honor and privilege to be a part of an "Adopted. Chosen. Redeemed." Women's event recently. This event was incredible. The Holy Spirit blessed this event and He touched the lives of every woman in that room including mine. During the event a woman spoke about mirrors. What she said caught my attention and her thoughts stayed with me. I feel that the Holy Spirit is using me to share my thoughts and lessons from this message to encourage all of you.

First of all, mirrors in today's society have a terrible connotation. Mirrors have become FLAW FINDERS. Every time we look in a mirror, we seem to always look for all of our flaws. "My makeup isn't good enough" "I'm not skinny enough" "my hair looks a mess" "my skin isn't perfect" "I'm too tall or too short". I am guilty of this! My hormonal struggles that I deal with cause me to pick at my face. It is absolutely imperfect. All I see are the pimples coming up that I want to pop or the redness from the places that are becoming cystic.

Mirrors are also EVERYWHERE. There is not a place in this world that does not have a mirror or some type of reflective surface for us to see ourselves in. We live in a culture where perfection is celebrated and anything less is looked down upon. I am so thankful for God who created us in these raw moments. He gives us grace because we aren't perfect. Why can't we show ourselves that same grace?

Mirrors show us our reflections and this woman who spoke said something incredibly powerful about reflections and perfectionism. Take a still creek. The water isn't moving and you can clearly see yourself in the water. It is perfect. All of a sudden you mess up and slip, the water moves; or a rock gets thrown into the water and causes ripples to distort your perfect image. That is what perfectionism looks like. You think you have it all under control, you believe everything is perfect, then something in your life happens that cause everything to move and you are no longer in control. Now all you can see is the mistakes in the water, not the perfect image.

Mirrors have become accusers. They accuse us of imperfection. They accuse us of being not good enough where we are. We stare in the mirror like God is finished with us. We stare in the mirror, judging ourselves like this is as far as we go, this is the best we will ever be; God is done with us and our flaws need to be perfected. This is WRONG. God is not finished with us yet. We are all a WORK IN PROGRESS. We are becoming like Christ in our walk with God. We are imperfect, but God isn't done with us yet.

There is such hope in that and there is an invitation for you. God is inviting us to look at mirrors differently. He invites us to stop looking at our reflections as imperfect, and start looking in the mirror as a reminder that God created us in HIS image and He is not done with us yet! I want to remind you that you are unfinished. I want to remind you that you are beautiful and its okay to be beautiful! It is okay to be called beautiful. This society we live in will tell you being beautiful isn't enough. They will tell you that you need to be smart and strong. Those are great characteristics, but being called beautiful is the greatest compliment of all. When people call you beautiful, they are not complimenting you. They are complimenting the creator of all things. They see God's handiwork in you and they are acknowledging the work of God.

I encourage you this week to write these words on your heart, on your mirrors, on your notebooks, and in your phones: Mirrors are no longer the reflection of who I am not, but they are a reminder of who God called me to be in Him. I hope that this brought encouragement and light to you. God loves you. You are enough for Him. You are beautiful and God is not done with you yet.