I’m not sure I saw this clearly before today.

I am not naive.

I am not living in fear, nor am I blind to the truth.

But the danger I face is real.

And all I need to see is the reflection in the mirror.

The danger is me.

Me getting in the way.

Me focusing on that girl in the mirror instead of The One Who Created Her.

But what is the greatest threat we face today? It’s the same one we’ve always faced: the human heart. In other words, our greatest danger is within ourselves, within our own hearts and minds. Go through any list of problems and threats we face today, and ask yourself where they came from. What is their ultimate source?

Your answer will always be the same: they came ultimately from the greed, lust and selfishness of the human heart. If we somehow could banish all greed, or end every craving for power, or eliminate all hatred and lust for revenge, then peace would reign. But since the beginning, these have been with us, and they always will be. The Bible puts it this way: “What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you?” (James 4:1).

~~Billy Graham

It is no coincidence that this verse is the one that I chose (or did it choose me?) to put on my journal so that I could see it first thing every morning:

Today I am especially grateful for the Holy Spirit–that God would leave us the gift of His presence to help us in this endeavor of “dying to self” means that we don’t face life alone.  HE is our refuge.

AND, that mirror is only an enemy when we don’t allow it to reflect Christ in us.

It’s hard, I know.  Some days we just want to whine and have a pity party and spend all of our time focusing on us, but time is short.  Days are fleeting, and it’s time to step back from the mirror and march to a different tune.