Is the mirror your friend or foe? Before hurrying to the safe answer, "it depends on what day it is," let's set the record straight. The mirror hangs on or sits up against a wall. It has no personality. It has no voice. It can't even excuse itself when ignored or as it helplessly hangs in front of a very angry human hopeful, who has indulged and wasted life in riotous living, only to return to the exquisite wall piece expecting it to be nice and kind anyway. The mirror is a specially prepared piece of glass designed to simply reflect whatever is placed in front of it. It shows what we really are in spite of what we want and wish it would show. What is seen is what we are; what we brought to it. Hair, face, pimples, marks, wrinkles, height, weight, six pack, one pack, have all succumbed to the truth of "Judge Reflector". If one wants a more kinder, gentler ego stroking "look at yourself here material friend," perhaps the view seen in the side of a car that can stretch you where you want to be stretched, or maybe your shadow that can make you taller than what you really are can be momentarily helpful. But none dare to offer Mr. Mirror any amount of money or gift of worship that will alter ones reflection perfectly the way wished for in the minds' eye. That mirror doesn't hang anywhere close to a wall. It's on the panoramic screen of our mind.
How we see ourselves determines our level of confidence to move forward, stay in the same place, or return to the past. What we already tell ourselves negatively or positively will or will not prevent us from: 1.Moving forward; 2.Taking on giants like situations, or people on our way to a destination; 3. Taking over new territory for our own expansion; 4. Experiencing the new and different fruit of the land, that will provide cleansing of internal toxic waste, and a sustaining strength to live with energetic focus; 5. Getting rid of a slave mentality, that locks us into others telling us when and how high to jump, move, talk,or behave. Self esteem can kill us or propel us. The messages we tell ourselves reflect in the way we treat others and in the decisions we make anywhere from our choice of friends, to what drives our passions in life.
If we look in the mirror and see self hatred and don't like ourselves, we will take down others or keep them from advancing. We will even project our sins and faults onto them, blaming them for our defects physically and emotionally. To keep our own insecurity from showing we will seek to control their achievements or direction in life. Others who are moving at a different pace will feel the wrath of our fear and lack of confidence in the constant criticisms we hurl at them or the little fights created to prevent our deep issues from ever getting addressed. If we are not careful we will come to a place where it will always be someone else's fault as to why we are so self destructing and mean. Self esteem lowers when we tell ourselves negative messages about ourselves and that message gets embedded or matched by the innocence of what others say regarding a subject that can easily be interpreted as fairly close to our conclusion about our self. For an instance, if you buy a new dress or suit and the morning you planned to wear it, it doesn't fit like it did in the store, our negative message may be "I'm too fat or I'm never gonna be a certain size" Now we have to wear option number two, something we didn't prepare to wear; so no matter how well we look in it, the negative message has already taken root. Now when a friend or acquaintance greets us after this self judgement and asks innocently are you pregnant, or are you gaining, that message matches what you've already told yourself. The result is your self esteem, or self worth is lowered. Only when there's no match will your esteem remain in place believing "I'm not fat, or yes I've gained a pound or two but soon to come off" will you keep your drive to improve going.
When the Lord delivered Israel out of the house of bondage, and they arrived at the threshold of a new experience, the Promised Land, spies were sent to survey the new territory already promised by God they would have. How can two people look at the same thing(s) and see something different?? The answer is certainly not the mirror on the wall. It's the high definition screen of our own thoughts. It becomes clear who we are when confronted with a new and challenging opportunity. Moses listened to the two reports given to Israel after special appointed surveyors evaluating a land of progress share their findings. The attitudes and views ring down through centuries and movements right up to this writing:
"God spoke to Moses, 'Send men to scout out the country of Canaan that I am giving to the people of Israel. Send one man from each ancestral tribe, each one a tried-and-true- Leader in the tribe.' So Moses sent them off....
'Look the land over, see what it is like. Assess the people: Are they strong or weak? Are there few or many? Observe the land: Is it pleasant or harsh? Describe the towns.... And the soil: Is it fertile or barren?....
After forty days of scouting.... they returned home. They presented themselves before Moses and Aaron and the whole congregation.... then they told the story of their trip! We went to the land.... and Oh! it does flow with milk and honey.... THE ONLY THING is that the people...ARE FIERCE, their cities are . WORSE YET we saw the descendants of the giant anak. Caleb interrupted, called for silence....'LET'S GO UP AND TAKE THE LAND---- NOW. WE CAN DO IT....
But the others said, 'WE CAN'T attack those people; THEY ARE WAY STRONGER THAN WE ARE.' They spread scary rumors among the people of Israel.... 'we scouted out the land.... it SWALLOWS PEOPLE WHOLE.' Everybody we saw was huge. Why we even saw the nephilim giants.
Along side them WE FELT LIKE GRASSHOPPERS . And they looked down on us as if we were grasshoppers.'" Numbers 13 1-32. bold applied.
The progress of movements, self achievements, and projects, are too often halted and stalled by those who look at an apparent or real obstacle and say we can't. They bring to the table a fear of failure or an attitude of jealousy toward the positive thinker.Those with unbending faith get on their chicken revealing nerves. The agenda either wasn't their idea, so they seek to kill it, or their focus is not progress but regress. Egypt, by their assessment, was better than anything they have seen on the trip up to this point. The need to go back was the majority vote, after the negative leaders shared the challenges. Often times the dagger of regression is speared into the very heart of the gospel or plans to seek out justice by mobilizing people to move forward. How many times have you gone around the same scene too long because you didn't move when the opportunity presented itself? So for Forty more years, those who didn't want to move forward, kept those who did from progressing. It will happen in your church group, your social club, your organization, company, family, marriage or community. A negative spirit will spark the God of Heaven to simply halt forward progress, and wait for the esteem killers to die off. Then new leaders will take the next group into the promised land.
When you look in the mirror in your house or office, what do you see? When you look into the reflection of your upbringing or life programming, who do you see? Reader today evaluate whether it's prestige, money, comfort, family, friend, enemy, car, house or climate that may be keeping you from something even better. I encourage you jump, move, at the beckoning of God, and you will never be disappointed. Time to move forward.
