Transformation Thought
I am writing this while our middle daughter, Nicole, is packing up her new Jeep Liberty (she is so proud even though it has 128k miles) to start her sophomore year at Liberty University. We’ll take a detour to Pittsburgh for the wedding of our oldest daughter, Dominique. We have visited Dominique a number of times as a student at Pitt and often stay with my good and hospitable cousin, Chuckie. His home is close to where I was born, about 45 minutes from Pitt. I haven’t lived there in over 40 years, but I still have many relatives in the area. It’s very nostalgic to go back and visit my family when we see Dominique.
Right down the street from Chuckie’s home is where little Granny Guzy lives. Wow! So many memories come back whenever I visit her house above the Monongahela River. She pinches my cheeks and calls me Junior. She has never called me Karl. She makes me huge sandwiches or mounds of pierogies and buys me “Sugar Pops” for breakfast (now with a politically correct name, Corn Pops). Granny doesn’t see me as the public or media does, an expert psychiatrist or national ministry leader. She sees me as a child. Furthermore, it’s very hard for me to see myself accurately—as a 51-year-old professional, a husband and father—when I’m being perceived through lenses that see and treat me as if I were an 8-year-old kid.
Let me ask, how do you see yourself? If you look honestly through your own eyes, chances are you don’t like what you see. We are all sinners—lost, inadequate and flesh-driven. Compound that with Satan, the Great Deceiver, tricking us to see ourselves as alone, unloved, unwanted, unable to tolerate pain and in need of his quick fixes for our problems. Sometimes your fleshly lenses skew your self-evaluation to the other end of the spectrum. You see yourself as King of your world, much better than you really are, entitled to way more than you really deserve. You know the mentality of the “me” generation: “My kingdom come, My will be done.”
The best goal is to see ourselves through the clearest, most accurate lenses of all, the eyes of God. He wants you to see yourself as someone who is deeply loved and valued. Healing, comfort, protection and peace are abundantly provided. But you need to seek them through God and be good stewards of them. How? Immerse yourself in God’s Holy Bible. It’s a tremendous story about God’s love for you and His pursuit of you, even though you continually push Him away. Read and see just how much He loves you. He offers you more love, peace, wisdom and protection than you could ever get from Satan’s worldly system.
Today, look in the mirror and evaluate your base, knee-jerk view of yourself. Then read Luke 1:26-2:21 (the Christmas Story) and John 18, 19 and 20 (the Easter story). Don’t say, “I know these stories, I can skip the reading.” JUST READ THEM. They are short. Use this time to see yourself through God’s lenses. You will be amazed at how clearly you will see yourself, your surroundings and your life. Whether you view yourself through Granny’s, your own or God’s lenses, it’s your decision, so choose well.
Prayer
Dear Father, You are the peak of all my desires and all my hopes. You are the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last: who is, and was, and is to come. You have brought so many pleasures and blessings into my life. Thank You, Jesus. I receive Your gifts with open arms. At times I grip your gifts, fearful that I might lose them. What a peaceful thought to know that the only thing I absolutely need is the one thing I can never lose: Your presence in me. Thank You, Jesus. Today, I try to see myself through Your eyes. Through Your eyes, I see myself as someone who is deeply loved. Your presence protects me and shields me from all evil. I pray in Jesus’ never-ending name. And all God’s children say AMEN!
The Truth
“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.” Revelation 1:8
Find rest, O my soul, in God alone; my hope comes from him. He alone is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will not be shaken. My salvation and my honor depend on God; he is my mighty rock, my refuge. Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your hearts to him, for God is our refuge. Psalm 62:5-8
