MIRROR, MIRROR — WHAT DO YOU SEE?

Seeing Yourself Through God’s Eyes

A mirror “shows a true visual image of objects or people placed before it.” But what if, standing in front of the mirror as we do every morning, what we see is not a true picture of who we are?

The Bible tells the stories of a few people who looked through their own mirrors and saw only failure, weakness and inability. But when placed before God’s mirror, the opposite of what they imagined was revealed.

One such person was Moses.

Scripture says that when God called Moses, at first he responded, “Here I am.” But when God told him why He was calling him—to bring His people out of Egypt—Moses’ replies showed how he saw himself:

“Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt? … I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue.”

So great was Moses’ sense of inadequacy for the task that he later told God, “Please send someone else.”

Where Moses saw his inadequacy, God saw beyond it to what Moses could become with Him.

Then there was Gideon.

In Judges 6:12, the angel of the LORD greets Gideon, “The LORD is with you, mighty warrior … Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian’s hand. Am I not sending you?”

But Gideon’s reply shows how he saw himself—what his own mirror showed him:

“How can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family.”

Where Gideon saw the weakest clan and the least in his family, God saw a mighty warrior.

Another example is Jeremiah.

In Jeremiah 1:4–10, God called Jeremiah to be a prophet to the nations, telling him that He knew him and set him apart before he was born.

What did Jeremiah reply?

“Alas, Sovereign LORD, I do not know how to speak; I am too young.”

Where Jeremiah saw youth and inexperience, God saw a prophet to the nations.

For all these men, one common thread runs through their vision of who they were and what they later became: the presence of God.

With the presence of God, they were able to move beyond the weaknesses and limitations they saw in themselves and become what God had called them to be.

To Moses, He said, “I will be with you.”

To Gideon, God said, “I will be with you.”

To Jeremiah, He replied, “Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you.”

As I reflected on these men—the difference between how they saw themselves and how God saw them—I began to wonder:

What do you see through your mirror every day?

What does God see?

What Do You See Through Your Mirror Every Day?

Truth be told, our experiences and the outcomes of our efforts give us a mirror through which we judge ourselves. Oftentimes, we judge ourselves harshly based on what we are doing, what we are supposed to be doing, how our contemporaries are doing, and where we think we could be but for one weakness or another.

Over time, these thoughts accumulate to create the picture we see and leave us with a sense of mistrust in ourselves and our abilities.

But the distortion can also go in the other direction. Our mirror can sometimes show us an inflated picture of ourselves—one that causes us to see ourselves more highly than we really are. Even then, God sees differently.

Either way, what we see may not be the complete picture of who we truly are. Moses, Gideon and Jeremiah each had a mirror of their own.

Moses’ mirror was history and perceived inability: Who am I? I cannot speak. Send someone else.

Gideon’s mirror was circumstance and family position: My family is poor; I am the least.

Jeremiah’s mirror was age and inexperience: I am too young; I cannot speak.

And God’s answer to all three contained essentially the same thing: whatever the limitation, whatever they thought disqualified them, He promised them His presence.

I am with you.

What Does God See?

We already know that God sees differently than man does. So when He sees us hiding—like Gideon in the winepress—or highlighting our inadequacies, like Moses, He sees beyond it all. Whether it is our family history, our past, our weaknesses or what we believe we cannot do, He sees the work of His hands.

For we are His workmanship, “created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” (Ephesians 2:10, NIV)

But to get the picture of who we are in His eyes, He asks us to let go of the picture we see in our own mirror. He urges us to shake off the attitude of self-distrust, for “as he thinketh in his heart, so is he.” (Proverbs 23:7, KJV)

Just look at His response to each man in focus. In each case, He says the opposite of what they see. To Jeremiah, who says he is too young, God responds, “Do not say, ‘I am too young.’”

Interestingly, even when the challenge or limitation is actually true—like Moses being slow of speech—God does not necessarily deny it or remove it. Instead, He shows that the limitation does not have to determine what we can become.

To Moses, He says, “I will help you speak and will teach you what to say.” He does not stop there. He gives him support through his brother Aaron because, as God says, “I know he can speak well.”

So we know that God sees all that is possible, and when our limitations become a block, He goes around them to get us where we have to be.

What Does This Mean for Us?

We must reconsider what we see in our mirror and ask ourselves: Is what I see trustworthy? Is it my true self?

Ask God to let us see through His eyes who we are. Surely, He who made us knows who we are and what He has placed within us.

Who knows what else God knows about us—what else He has placed within us, and what else we are capable of becoming and doing that we do not yet know ourselves?

This is why we ask Him to help us see ourselves through His eyes.

And wherever we are and whatever the task before us, we do not have to depend only on what we see in ourselves. We can seek the presence of the Most High God to go with us.

The Moses who once said, “Please send someone else,” eventually became the Moses who would say, “If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here.”

And God assured him:

“My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.”

Exodus 33:14–15, NIV

It is an assurance we too can seek continually:

“Look to the LORD and his strength; seek his face always.”

Psalm 105:4, NIV

His presence is enough to take us beyond the weaknesses and limitations we see in ourselves—even our self-distrust—and beyond “all we ask or imagine.”

As You Go About Your Day…

Reflect on the picture you have formed of yourself and ask:

1. What do I see when I look at myself—and is that picture trustworthy?

   
   

2. What weakness, past experience or limitation have I allowed to define what I believe I can do or become?

   
   

3. How can I begin to change this picture and invite God’s presence into what is before me?

   
   

I pray that any image that has taken root in us and is not worthy of who He has created us to be will be rooted out. May we see ourselves more and more in the likeness of who He has created us to be. Amen.