Seeing more than yourself

Reflection ponds are great thinking places. When I paused near this one in a public garden, I thought of Paul’s admonition in Philippians 4:8 to think about things that are good. His list included whatever is noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent or praiseworthy.  At times, when life got challenging, I have needed such reminders to reflect on the positives that could come of problems.  It's amazing that Paul came up with such a list as he endured the negatives of Roman imprisonment.

The Bible offers another perspective on “reflection” in a proverb about the mirroring properties of still water:

As water reflects the face, so a man’s heart reflects the man. (Proverbs 27:19)
For a long time I associated this with the idea that our faces are windows into our hearts and personalities. By skin, eyes, and wrinkles, you can usually “tell” if a person lives a hard life or if they have a gentle spirit. Frown wrinkles? Watch out! Smiling eyes? Feel welcome.

But Bible teacher William MacDonald gave me another perspective on this in his commentary.  Most agree that still water is a great mirror.  But as for the second part of this verse, he remarked, “As you study other people, you see much that you find in yourself—the same emotions, temptations, ambitions, thoughts, strengths, and weaknesses.  That is why it happens that if a man preaches to himself, he is surprised by how many other people he hit.”*

When I started writing this blog five years ago--akin to MacDonald’s “preaching to yourself”-- I didn’t know who would resonate with the Biblical reflections rising from my own spiritual growth process. But as I consider God’s goodness and instruction to me, the same things apparently touch people around the world.

That’s a good reminder for any of us to be transparent about our walk with God. We never know when a lesson He teaches us will help someone else struggling in that area. In other words, when we look into that reflection pool, the face staring back may be a stranger who needs our encouragement and counsel.

Or, as Paul wrote, God comforts us in all our troubles “so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received form God” (2 Corinthians 1:4).

 

*Believer's Bible Commentary (Nelson, 1995, p. 860)