Mirrors & Freedom

“Do not merely listen to the word…Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But he who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it – he will be blessed in what he does.” James 1:22-25.

For me, this past year was a year of running from one challenge to the next. My focus was intently on caregiving much to the exclusion of everything else. After the death of my father-in-law I remember walking through one of the stores in the mall. I happened to catch my reflection in a mirror as I passed by and was shocked to see how tired I now appeared. Over the past year a day had not gone by when I hadn’t at some point seen myself in a mirror but this day was different. My situation no longer had any competing focus and I could truly see myself – tired eyes and all.

The same thing has been happening in my heart and my spirit. Now that my caregiving focus has come to an end I can reflect on everything God has shown me through His word. I have learned immeasurable truths about myself and have been shown amazing revelations about God. These are things I don’t want to forget. I don’t want the impact made by these challenges to ever fade away. I never want to be the same.

We will be shown amazing things about God in our adversities. These revelations through our pain, if cherished and not forgotten, will be the new truths by which our thoughts and actions may be guided. However, the flesh would bid us to return to the old way of our thought process. Life would invite us to dwell on the former things instead of putting into action the things that God has shown us through our experiences. ‘Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!’ 2 Co. 5:17.

Life’s challenges are too tough to go through only to turn around and have the reflection of what they represented fade away. Don’t lose sight of the truths for which God showed you through the tough seasons. These precious truths will be the transforming freedom that God intends you to have. ‘Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.’ John 8:32.