"Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path" - Psalm 119:105 (NIV)
To me, the word of God is a mirror. As I look into it, it reveals to me how much I have grown in my devotion and commitment to live by the values and principles that are important to me and are important to God. However, this mirror also reveals with painstaking clarity how much I intentionally or unintentionally fall short of living out my commitment to God on a day in and day out basis as well.
Still, I have a love for the word of God. As a Christian, Counselor and man in recovery, I have found the Bible to be full of instruction that speaks to virtually every part of my life, assisting, illuminating and answering questions I have asked during my life, and I am satisfied with the answers that God has revealed to me and has inspired me to live a life that is marked by "doing justice, loving mercy and walking humbly with God" (Micah 6:8).
As you look into your mirror at home, what questions arise as you consider the man or woman you currently are and the person you wish to become? “Who is God and where are you?” “What is a ‘relationship’ with Jesus and how can it help me become sober from alcohol, drugs or other destructive behaviors in my life?” “Why do I have this pain in my life and how can I live through it?" “How can I overcome my fear and this current struggle?” or “What is God’s will for my life?” These are all very fair questions and are important simply because they originate from the heart of the person in the mirror.
I don't know if you read the Bible or have read it lately. I hope that you will. King David writes in the Psalms 139: 23 – 24 for God to “search me, and know my anxious heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting." What I get from this scripture is God wants to meet you just as you are, and speak to you about your life, your relationships, your recovery, your “God,” and about hope and your future (see Jeremiah 29:11 below). David, a man like I am, who made choices that he was not proud of and who erred more than he would have liked, met with God through the mirror and was able to pen the words at the top of this post, as he found God's word (and a relationship with God through the word) to be inspirational, guiding, informing and empowering.
What about you? Will you meet with God today in the mirror, just as you are? As you read Jeremiah 29:11, please consider what He "reflects" back to you:
11 For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."
Feel free to leave a comment or pass this post to others who you think would like to read it and by all means visit my other page at dr ken mcgill’s blog for more helpful “counseling” information.
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