I am at the beginning of Month 6 of the Race, pretty crazy that it’s almost on the downhill. I am in Blantyre, Malawi (Africa). This blog is not about something epic, it’s not about some amazing experience I had, it’s not about some miracle that happened during ministry. It’s something simple. It’s something God revealed to me in silence while sitting by a pool at a hostel. The Lord has been teaching me to be still and listen. To sit quietly in His presence, wait, and hear His voice. For this girl… type A, busy body, always having to be doing something..It’s a work in progress.
I was born and raised in the water. My mom was a swim instructor while I was growing up so I never went to preschool or daycare, I’d just go to the pool with her and swim all day… Not a bad gig by any means; I loved it and I still do. There is something about being in water that makes me feel at home. Going on month 6 of the Race, you start to do a lot of thinking about home and your mind certainly wonders about the future. As I was sitting next to the pool watching a family play in the pool I began to reminisce. Memories began flooding my mind of my childhood spent at pools and bittersweet tears filled my eyes. Instantaneously, I read Proverbs 27:19, “As water reflects the face, so one’s life reflects the heart.”
Water has been a constant variable not only in my home life, but also in my Race. God has revealed so much to me through the means of water in the past 5 months. From days where there is no water whatsoever, to standing in awe of amazing waterfalls, to the living water of Jesus Christ, God uses water as a constant metaphor of His love for me and my walk with Him. A still pool of water reflects the face, when it is calm, you can see your face clearly. When the water is disturbed, when events in life disrupt the water, the reflection becomes distorted, but ultimately it’s still there. You can lose your reflection in the disturbance… I lost my reflection, I lost my identity in my storm. I asked God to stop the waves… but He didn’t, I asked God to stop the ongoing 6 year storm in my life, but He didn’t. He didn’t stop the storm, but that does not mean for a second that He ever left my side (Hebrews 13:5-6). He was with me through the storm, and in Isaiah 55:9 it says, “As the heavens are higher than the Earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” You see, even though He didn’t stop my storm, He saw me through it. Even though I couldn’t see my face, my identity…He could. He sustained me through every second of it. He will also sustain me through future storms and it will all be for His glory. That makes every single storm, past, present, and future worth it.
“As water reflects the face, so one’s life reflects the heart.” I know that I want my life to reflect my heart for Jesus. When you think about your life and what it represents, remember that your life reflects your heart. You have the power to live according to the desires of your heart. You can choose. God gives us free will. You can choose to live for this world and for your flesh, or you can choose to live for your spirit that God blessed you with. Take a look at the reflection of your life and search your heart because we only get one life, one heart, one spirit, one chance. Although my flesh fails daily, I’m pressing on and committing my life, my heart, my everything to reflect my Creator, my Father, my Protector, my Defender, my Provider, my God. I want my life to reflect my heart for Him and Him alone.
