Dimly: Faith Seeds: Prayers and Poetry

Dimly

A reflection in the mirror

peers back

seemingly a clear image

on which to build

make up for the day

yet it is only a surface

appearance not

necessarily awake,

attuned to motives

still dimly aims forward.

Reflection Mirror: Faith Seeds: Prayers and Poetry

Reflection Questions:

     1.  List some decisions you have made when fully confidant of your mirror image based on your own sense of knowing. How accurate were you? 

     2.  Now list some decisions or choices you felt the Lord leading you towards, but had no sense of understanding. What were the results? 

     3. In both cases how much did you lean or not lean on the Lord in prayer? What difference did it make for your faith? 

     4. Does the recognition that God knows us so thoroughly bring a sense of comfort or discomfort to you? Why? 

Share: What has helped you to have a clearer perspective from the Lord’s perspective when you have needed guidance?

Mirror: Faith Seeds: Prayers and Poetry

1 Corinthians 13:12, “For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then we will see face to face. Now I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known.”

A mirror reflects images.

We depend on at least one each day to help make us physically presentable: teeth brushed, hair combed, collars even. However, no matter how pristine our environment, we are still dimmed by leftover steam from a shower, or clarity of eyesight, or the quality of lighting in the room, whether natural or fluorescent. We do the best we can based on a lifetime of experience and assume we are ready when our daily regimen is complete.

How accurately then can we make assumptions for our spiritual mirrors each day? Are we on guard, listening, praying with confidence, or stumbling? Do we have clear knowledge or a best guess?

Just like the curves or concaves in glass can give a distorted experience in a house of mirrors, so can our personal mirrors can give us a false perception if we trust in them alone. We don’t really know or understand all the pieces floating around in our thoughts, our schedules, or our actions.

We think we know, but it’s not a full picture. Sometimes our reflections are humorous and sometimes queasy. Sometimes we are looking through a lens that is not our own but has been dictated to us.

But the Lord knows us fully. Inside and out. He sees our completed heart, soul, and body, all together. Not splintered like ragged puzzle pieces, but a finished design. And He walks with us through His spirit to guide us step by step.

When we realize how foggy our vision is—how limited we are in our knowledge.  How easily we can miss the stain on the back of our clothing or the hardness of our heart, which we interpret as conviction.

Then we remember the hope He gives us—the hope of His light and guidance. The hope that He knows us completely and still does not reject us. Because He sees us as whole. Because He gives Himself  to be our mirror.

Psalm of Worship: Psalm 51:10

“Create in me a clean heart, O God,

And renew a steadfast spirit within me.”