By
Dana Rausch
/ June 11, 2012
What do you see when you look in the mirror….Imperfections…scars….blemishes….hair out of place? Do you observe someone who is in process? Do you see a loving and peaceful person or a hateful and anxious person? Do you like who you see?
Examine is defined as: to inspect, scrutinize carefully, observe, test or investigate. It literally means to REALLY LOOK AT.
Most of my life I avoided looking in the mirror because I never like what I saw. Shame, embarrassment and ugliness are what I saw staring back at me. I thank God for 1 Samuel 16:7, “God doesn’t look at the outside, he looks at the inside, man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”
When God looked at me he saw someone of worth. He loved me despite my wrong belief system. He knew under that exterior was a frightened and wounded little girl. Yet, he still picked me to be on his team!
Today, instead of looking in the mirror, I look at my heart, unless of course I am putting on mascara. If I see envy, jealousy and anger something needs to change because those attributes are a heart issue. Proverbs 4:23 says, “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.” You truly can see the condition of someone’s heart by his actions because everything filters through the heart.
My morning devotion was about when God gives you a promise or a dream and as you are working toward it, that opposition will come in various ways. Family members, friends, associates, and circumstances try to thwart the plan God has for you. The enemy may use people or circumstances to get you to back off of the promise you received. But if you are certain you are doing what God told you to do, don’t budge an inch no matter how hard it gets.
As I was agreeing wholeheartedly, it ended with a question. As YOU sincerely review YOUR own past, can YOU think of a time in YOUR life when YOU became the cynic and critic of someone who stood on a promise or fulfilled their dream?
A person instantly came to mind. My previous thoughts and words played out in front of me reminding me of how I had acted. I was grieved because I was experiencing today what I had done to them in the past. I repented and at the same time thanked God for allowing me to experience this ordeal, examining myself and changing what needed to change.
So what is going in your heart? May I suggest that you do a self-examination today to rid yourself of the past. Keep the slate clean as you continually guard your heart from the things of the world: anger, bitterness and unforgiveness.
I want to represent the Lord well, how about you?
