The sun reflects off choppy water and jagged pieces of glass. It
doesn't need a large, perfect surface to reflect its light. A teeny, tiny,
flawed surface can reflect the glory of a sunbeam.
An array of popular
reflections fill the world today - reflections of beauty, fame and fortune. The
reflection with the greatest potential for shine however, is your reflection.
It is brighter than sunshine and sweeter than a sunbeam.
Your shine is
God Shine.
2 Corinthians 3:16-18 tells us
that whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away and our faces
will reflect the Lord's glory.
Hmmmm........ anyone? Why then, is there
such an absence of God Shine in the world?
Sun reflectors, beauty
reflectors, fame reflectors and fortune reflectors are present in abundance.
Where are all the God reflectors?
Is it possible that we've retrieved
the veil and put it back on?
Matthew 5:15
tells us not to hide our light. We're encouraged to let it shine for all to
see.
Ah... reflecting God Shine is a choice. If others are to see it, we
must remove the veil, the one we've snatched from God's hands and put back over
our heads.
God Shine is brilliant and unmistakable. It takes courage to
even lift the veil. Skeptics will smirk at your audacity to shine. Cynics will
sneer at the foolhardiness of your belief that you can reflect God's light. The
giant that laughed at David will laugh at you. The crashing waves that caused
Peter to doubt will bully you into having doubts.
Comfortable
circumstances make it easier to lift the veil. Step inside a church on Sunday
morning and you'll see wall-to-wall God Shine. Stand outside the doors and you
won't see all that God Shine stepping out into the world. Veil after veil after
veil comes down.
Even if your courage is strong, lifting the veil is a
scary proposition. Self doubt is a powerful adversary.
"Who am I to
shine God's light? I am nowhere near perfect. I make mistakes. I fall down. I
backslide. What happens if I walk around reflecting God and then royally mess
up?"
(Can you hear the giant laughing? I
can.)
On the surface, being a God reflector seems like a huge
burden. "People
are going to look at ME and see GOD?" YIKES!
(Can
you hear the bullying crash of the waves? I can.)
In reality,
however imperfect and flawed, you are perfectly suited for the job. If the Lord
only chose perfect people to reflect His light, the world would be completely
and utterly dark.
God chose deeply flawed human beings to reflect His
light in the Old Testament. Jesus befriended the least among us to reflect His
glory in the New Testament. God is still at work today.
As we walk
through the miry mud of trials and tribulations, the Lord shines a guiding
light to lead us through adversity. Along the way, He teaches us to place our
flaws and imperfections in His healing hands. He answers the cry of our souls
when the sharp edges of life cut into our hearts, and slowly we transform into
His likeness.
What if you are the only glimpse of God someone is going
to see in their lifetime?
Will they see Jesus, when they look at
you?
The Spirit of the Lord is the great light of the world and His
Spirit lives inside of you. God chose you to reflect His light and shatter the
darkness.
Won't you lift the veil - just a little?
But
whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is the
Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we, who with
unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his
likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the
Spirit. 2 Corinthians 3:16-18
Don't
hide your light under a basket! Instead, put it on a stand and let it shine for
all. Matthew 5:15
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©
2005 Terri McPherson
Windsor, Ontario, Canada
terri@wisehearts.com
Now you are light in the Lord; walk as children
of light.
Ephesians 5:8
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