Home Remedies: Keeping the Mirror Clean

I like her.

That girl in the picture is the me I’ve let myself be. Maybe she isn’t what I thought she’d be, and she certainly doesn’t look like I intended her to look, but I like her now that I’ve cleaned the mirror again.

“For now we are looking in a mirror that gives only a dim (blurred) reflection [of reality as in a riddle or enigma], but then [when perfection comes] we shall see in reality and face to face! Now I know in part (imperfectly), but then I shall know and understand fully and clearly, even in the same manner as I have been fully and clearly known and understood [ by God].” (1 Corinthians 13:12 AMP)

Sometimes our mirrors get spotted a bit by fallacies, splattered with ideas of who or what we think we aught to be or what others tell us we should be.

I remember compliments on my appearance from years and years ago and how I hung on them. I look at the physical trait that inspired those sentiments, and I sigh. Steam covers my mirror, in sorrow over cellulite and disappointment in rounded shoulders. Where is the smooth brown hair, that once framed a thin neck and bright eyes? Surely it’s still there somewhere.

This veil of deception hinders my ability to serve my family, it slows my patients and quickens my tongue. My entire home is affected by the careless blur of an unkempt mirror.

So I trade my disappointment for determination. Surely if I wipe away these spots, I’ll find her again. So I clean. With exercise and smaller servings I try to scrub the glass, but in place of spots I leave streaks, again and again I leave behind residue of good intentions, bested by time. I am unable to keep this mirror clean because my problem isn’t what I see.

My problem is what I’m looking for.

Finally, I realize I will need something stronger to effect this dilemma. Finally the Word.

In soft whispers the Word calls me to refocus my gaze, to hand over my filthy rags and allow redemption to come from beyond my efforts.

And I hear.

“You are altogether beautiful, my darling, And there is no blemish in you.” (Song of Solomon 4:7)

The Lover croons to His bride. I question if He can mean me.

“For You formed my inward parts; You wove me in my mother’s womb. I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Wonderful are Your works, And my soul knows it very well.” (Psalm 139:13-14)

I argue that, yes He did a good work in forming me, but look what I have done with His work. Surely He cannot be pleased.

“But the Lord said to Samuel, ‘Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.'” (1 Samuel 16:7)

And I ask, “was it my heart You were forming all along?”

“For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.” (Jeremiah 29:11)

He is not just forming me, He is making a way for me. His intentions are not swayed by my imperfections, they are glorified in them.

“For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.” (Ephesians 2:10)

I begin to trust. I begin to see, as silently the mirror grows clearer and clearer, as if a window were opened to the fresh scent of God’s love and it dissipates the spots, streaks and foggy steam.

And the mirror clears and I see her again, right where she was placed, right where she was called to be, on the path He made for her. It’s me, and I like her.

Not because she’s beautiful.

Though, she has a nice smile.

I like her because of her position. There is a great contentment in the center of God’s will, and a great beauty in knowing He has purpose for everything He has made her.

I like her because of Whose she is…and her eyes sparkle when her mirror is clean.

And I praise.

Because there is nothing left to do.

“Sing for joy in the Lord, O you righteous ones; Praise is becoming to the upright.” (Psalm 33:1)

I praise the God who forms hearts and then reminds us that He can’t take His eyes off of them. I praise the God who pulled me out of miry clay and teaches me to walk on firm ground. I praise the God who sings over me…

“The Lord your God is in the midst of you, a Mighty One, a Savior [Who saves]! He will rejoice over you with joy; He will rest [in silent satisfaction] and in His love He will be silent and make no mention [of past sins, or even recall them]; He will exult over you with singing.” (Zephaniah 3:17 AMP)

What great redemption is this, to be serenaded by the Creator in full view of heaven? How much am I cherished? How can it be?

And I look at Psalm 139:14 again in the Amplified…

“I will confess and praise You for You are fearful and wonderful and for the awful wonder of my birth! Wonderful are Your works, and that my inner self knows right well.”

And I realize it is not so much that I am wonderful, but that I was conceived of by Wonderful. What glory to have this distinction, and to be found lacking nothing even as He is still in the process of finishing His work.

In these truths I am able to walk away from the mirror confidently. Believing I am more than what mankind may choose to see. I am simply His, and that is enough.

When the splatters overtake my vision, threatening my home with spots that confuse my perception, I call on Him and He is quick to hear me. It is He alone that can wash away the corrosive veil.

“So that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the Word,” (Ephesians 5:26)

Praise Him, Praise Him, Praise Him.

I see more clearly, it is only in laying down my filthy rags that I am able to keep this mirror clean.