Deep Spiritual Thoughts

Deep Spiritual Thought #516

Mirror, Mirror

Now all of us, with our faces unveiled, reflect the glory of the Lord as if we are mirrors; and so we are being transformed, metamorphosed, into His same image from one radiance of glory to another, just as the Spirit of the Lord accomplishes it.

—2 Corinthians 3:18, The Voice

Did you ever wake up in the morning and hear the “Hallelujah Chorus” playing in your mind because you just got a great insight? This happened for me on January 29, 2013, day seventeen of my 365-day experiment in getting intimate with God. It is fair to say that guys have a harder time with relationships and perhaps expressing our feelings. Even the thought of expressing my feelings sometimes makes me want to puke. Why is that? Simply put, intimacy takes a lot of work, and we aren’t taught that as guys when we are growing up. At least when I was growing up that was the case. Guys were supposed to be tough; feelings were for girls.

That is the backdrop to what I am discovering about intimacy with God. I am now going to reveal the secret to all relationships. Some of you will probably say, “Duh! Of course that is the secret.” Others may say, “Let me think about that for a while.” Still others may say, “I get it, but it is easier said than done.” That is exactly why this intimacy thing takes time spent alone with God, time in His Word, and time reflecting on His Word and listening to what He has to say to us when we are “in the garden.”

The secret to all our earthly relationships lies in the strength of our heavenly relationship. How intimate we are with each other will be directly proportional to how intimate we are with God. The two things are mirror images. As the Scripture passage above says, we reflect the glory of the Lord as if we are mirrors. Our relationship with God becomes a mirror image of all of our other relationships. Are we having problems being intimate with someone? Then we probably have a problem being intimate with God. Are we not always honest with people? Then we probably struggle with being completely honest with God.

I was once sitting in a small group, and the leader asked us to close our eyes and have a quiet moment with God. This was supposed to quiet our hearts so we would be more in tune with what was going on. When the leader asked what I had experienced in that quiet time with God, my answer surprised even me. I didn’t say I felt closer to God, I was drawn into His presence, I heard angels singing, or other such responses. Instead I was honest. I simply said I had a hard time having quiet time with God on command. That doesn’t work for me. This led other people to share similar thoughts, and the responses became the basis of a great conversation in which we all were drawn closer to God. This resulted from honesty, one of the keys to any healthy relationship, whether with God or with others. A foundation of honesty will lead to many other good things. The more honest we are with God, the more honest we become with others.

If we are experiencing fractured or broken relationships with certain people, we probably need some work with God in a brutally honest, introspective way. Our relationships with people are a mirror image of our relationship with God.

I am sure we have all heard this before, and I have too, many times. The difference for me now is that I am taking the necessary time with God to soak in His presence and to cultivate a right relationship with Him. I have learned that this concept of relational mirror imaging is true. Perhaps I have invented a new term, relational mirror imaging, or RMI for short. In any case our relationship with God is a perfect gauge of how we are doing in relationships with our partners, our families, our friends, and our coworkers.

The key once again is getting yourself in an ever-increasing intimate relationship with God. This shared intimacy with God will help you in all of your other relationships. I cannot stress this concept enough! It is an amazing thing to give up control in your relationship with God and to let Him take the lead. You will start feeling less stressed about today and tomorrow. You will feel less fearful and more loved. And love is the bottom line. 

The next time you are passing a mirror in a hallway, stop and take time to reflect on what the image looking back at you is portraying. Is it someone who is seeking a more intimate relationship with God and others, or is it someone who is too busy to stop and reflect. And one more thing to remember: it is the Spirit of the Lord who will accomplish a change of attitude in you!

Mirror, mirror on the wall, who is the most intimate one of all?

Press on...