GUEST POST: Seeing beyond the Mirror

This GUEST POST comes from Mark Seager.  Mark is the Associate Pastor at Cedar Run Community Church in Herndon, VA.  He is a very gifted communicator as his passion for the Lord and people to come to know him is evident in all he does.  I think the more he guest posts for me the better the chances are that he might want to blog & write more 🙂

¹² When the angel of the LORD appeared to Gideon, he said, “The LORD is with you, mighty warrior.”
¹³ “But sir,” Gideon replied, “if the LORD is with us, why has all this happened to us? Where are all his wonders that our fathers told us about when they said, ‘Did not the LORD bring us up out of Egypt?’ But now the LORD has abandoned us and put us into the hand of Midian.”
¹⁴ The LORD turned to him and said, “Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian’s hand. Am I not sending you?”
¹⁵ “But Lord,” Gideon asked, “how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family.”
¹⁶ The LORD answered, “I will be with you, and you will strike down all the Midianites together.”
Judges 6:12-16 (NIV)

Life has a way of snaring our attentions so we lose sight of prime reality; God.  We get distracted by our current events and lose perspective.  We need to be reminded of how God sees things.  He doesn’t get consumed by the moment, He has an eternal perspective.  He sees through our reflection in the mirror to what’s inside.  We need to do the same.

Gideon is introduced to us in Judges 6 and from the first part of the chapter appears to be a pretty unimpressive fellow.  The kind of guy you’d meet at a party but never remember.  But that’s not how God saw Him.  Instead of focusing on the “what-is-now” of Gideon being low man on the tribal totem pole, God called him “Mighty Warrior.”  How can a no-name cowering in fear and working in secret be a mighty warrior?  Because God was with him and had a plan for him.  Because God was with him, Gideon was unstoppable if He obeyed the Lord.  That’s why the angel of the Lord could call Gideon “mighty warrior”.

We must do no less with one another.  Too often we see and remember each other’s (and our own) foibles and screw-ups.  Our churches and our world would be transformed if Christians saw each other as God sees us.  Complete in Christ and equipped for every good work through the power of Him who raised Jesus from the dead living in us.  God’s power is not hindered by our lack of popularity or intelligence or athleticism.  He just wants us to see beyond our reflection in the mirror, believe the truth and trust Him.  May God advance His Kingdom with a bunch of ordinary people whose eyes are firmly fixed on the vision of who we are in Christ!

So right now, TAKE A MINUTE and…

1. Think about who the “Gideons” are in your ministry.  Kids who may not be in the in crowd at school…kids who seem like they’re on the fast track to insignificance…Kids for whom you can cast the vision of, “Since God is with you, you can do amazing things!”.
2. Write down some thoughts on how you will help kids to see beyond the mirror to who they are “in Christ.”