Tuesday, November 15, 2011

The Trash, The Photo Album, or The Mirror

Opportunities to learn and grow in God's word are endless. Certainly, Bible study and prayer are useful and deliberate methods, but God presents us with many more candid glimpses of His truth throughout the course of our everyday lives. A sermon at church, a song on the radio, a clever bumper sticker quote, a conversation with a friend, even God's whispers through His creation or the world around us can provide nuggets of truth with applicable potential.

When God serves us a helping of truth, a lesson to learn from, what is our response? I find that the options I usually filter through can be represented by a trash can, a photo album, or a mirror. 

Option A: The Trash
When truth is hard to hear and requires an uncomfortable change or sacrifice, it is easiest to ignore or discard it. The problem with throwing out truth is that it keeps comming back, often in more and more direct and difficult ways. When something in your life causes a roadblock between you and God, He will deal with it. Not because He tries to spoil your fun or punish you, but because those roadblocks prevent his blessing on your life and cause seperation between you and him. The sooner you deal with it and remove the roadblack, the sooner God can hold your hand, heal your hurts, and show you His love.

Option B: The Photo Album
This tends to be my most automatic response. When truth is presented, it is easy to see how other people need to learn this lesson. How much easier would your life be if your _______________ [boss, sister, husband, fill in the blank] learned this lesson? Suddenly you begin concocting ways you can be the voice of truth into the lives of others. Often these intensions seem noble in our minds. We genuinely want to help others. But let me assure you, God doesn't need your help to teach someone else a lesson. His methods are much more effective than your and if He teaches truth to other people in your life, it repairs rather than damages your relationship with them. If you try to be the one to change others, it will almost invariablely cause damage.  

Option C: The Mirror
The third and most difficult option when faced with a lesson of truth is to look in the mirror, examine yourself and allow God to show you areas in your own life where change is needed or where truth can be applied. When God's truth jumps out at you, it's not an accident or a cooincidence. It's because God wants you to apply it in YOUR life. He doesn't teach us to shame us. His truth will always enrich our lives and bring us closer to Him. If we are willing to allow God to teach us, grow us and change us, we will always walk away from this mirror more beautiful.

Lets be women who choose to look in the mirror when we are faced with truth. Let's allow God to bring out the true beauty He created in each of us through the application of His truth.