The Fun House Mirror

Welcome back to the fellowship we share here in the blog! What a blessing it is to my heart every day to come here and be stimulated with thoughts that help me be a better person in God's sight. I am also thankful to be part of this Christian family that I treasure -- the family of God. I, Katrinka, am writing today instead of Chris as he travels back home after a short trip out of town. It is my prayer that the thoughts that come to me today from Psalm 36 will be a blessing to you, as you are to me with your comments. Please DO comment. Then it is as though we are sitting together in a lovely place and discussing these things instead of just traveling a one-way street.

"...concerning the sinfulness of the wicked:

There is no fear of God before his eyes,

for he flatters himself too much to detect or hate his sin." (vv. 1-2)

It is really hard for me to see myself in an unbiased way! Mostly I think that I am "a good person" who tries my best to live in a good way. I try to keep from hurting others as much as possible, and I try to remember to work on the faults I know that I have. But even then, it is impossible for me to see myself as others see me. It is especially impossible for me to see myself as God sees me. It is a lot like looking into one of those crazy mirrors in a Fun House. No matter what you do to get a better perspective on yourself, still the image you see before you that is supposed to be you is really not right at all! It is a false image -- a distortion of me.

I am especially humbled when I remember that Jesus taught that only God is GOOD. I know that I sin even when I try not to. But if only I can recognize it and see myself in a more realistic light, then I can know how to pray and how to live to become more what God wants me to be. The Bible is the best mirror for our souls. If we look into it regularly, we are more likely to see our own shortcomings more clearly. We can then see a true image in place of a distortion.

Most of us are a lot better at checking out the faults of another person than we are at seeing and recognizing our own "dirty linen." We can easily tell someone else what he/she needs to change, can't we? It reminds me of the parable that Jesus told about the guy with the log in his eye trying to take a splinter out of another guy's eye! Impossible, right? Please, Lord, let me remember this story more often!

The real cause of such blindness is diagnosed right there in the first part of this passage in Psalm 36: "There is no fear of God before his eyes." If a person has no fear of God, no respect for His Creator, does not even acknowledge that there is a God, then he is truly blind in the ultimate way. God is Light, and if we refuse that Light, we live in the deepest darkness. No wonder then that such a one cannot see his own faults? Does a mole know that it lives in darkness?

The closest way to God's heart is through humility -- through our humility to see our own mistakes and confess them. First I must confess my mistakes to myself before I am even able to begin to confess them to God, and to others. We are taught by Jesus to confess our sins to each other. Instead, all too often we go to great lengths to simply cover them up. It takes genuine humility to admit fault, and yet we are never more fault-free than when we fall on our faces before our God, and before other people and admit our mistakes. Then we are truly raised up and blessed as a child of the King! Now, it is YOUR turn. Please share your thoughts on this, or another verse in this beautiful Psalm.

Blessed Lord, please give me clear eyes to see myself honestly. Please help me to be able to admit to my problems and sinful ways, and then seek your Face and the love of my fellow Christians to overcome my failings and sins. Thank you, Lord! In Jesus' blessed name I ask it all, Amen.