Your reflection
Looking down recently so close to my baby girl's little face, I saw my reflection in her sweet baby eyes
And I felt God's spirit say…
You see your reflection in her….you are a reflection of me
And then teary eyes came on me because in the midst of messes and mistakes I wonder how that can be. How can I really be made in the image of such a perfect, glorious and gracious God?
So this reminder through my baby girl was a sweet assurance in that moment
And part of me knows because God said it way back in the beginning. Now I need to remember it and let his encouraging words soak deep down and penetrate all the mess around us today
Even when we don’t feel it, he’s working in us. And He tells us with his never-ending grace that
You matter
You are special
You are be-you-tifully unique
You are fearfully and wonderfully made You were made in my image
He made you truly special and unique, a reflection of Him. I'm not sure that means that we "look" like Him so much, but we have ability to be like him and share His love, gentleness, grace, and Jesus’ humility if we are walking with Him
As I've thought on this message through my baby girl from our creator, I know without a doubt He was helping me try to soak up this lesson I've missed before
Hey you. Yes you. Right there wherever you are right now -- your life matters
All life - the unborn, the young and the old - matters because it comes from the master creator who made us in his image as stated in Genesis 1:27
And while the world is hyper focused on looks, appearance, material possessions and productivity, God focuses on our hearts and has given us the ability through his spirit to be more like Him every day. He looks at hearts and not appearance or what we have. The world's way is only perpetuating division, jealousy and strife among us when He would like us united in love as He loves
What we do in terms of perfectionist productivity (my daily hang-up) and work are not where our value comes from either (as long as we are making an earnest effort overall). How we live life matters
Today I'm thankful for my baby girl's eyes that helped me see this
We desperately need more of what God says and more of how God sees us to help fix the messes of today
So, today Lord, please humble me and humble us so that we would desire to draw closer to you and not the world as James 4 says
Humble us to truly see our reflection in you and work to "look" and live life in your image each day with our goals being to love like Jesus and build up your fruits of the spirit in ourselves
