A friend recently obtained a “smart phone” and used it to take my picture. Now when I call him, my picture is displayed and he knows it is me. It was just a snapshot, but it made me think. Every time I call him, that is the image of me he will see, and that image will stay with him…and his phone.
When others see the image, they may only know me by that single image and could form an opinion about me. I would trust my friend to correct any crazy conclusions they might make about me by saying something like, “he actually is much smarter than he appears”.
All of us at one time or another in our lives are judged by someone else’s view of a snapshot of our life. One moment in time, an instant, one thing that we do or don’t do, and it gives an image of who we are. We have all done it too… formed an opinion about others based on a snapshot we see of them, right or wrong.
Our lives are more portfolios than snapshots. God knows the beginning from the end and He said the end of a thing is better than the beginning. We can’t let others deter us from our destiny because of a snapshot. Even if it is a good picture they see, it can still represent only a small part of whom and how we are. God knows how all the pictures work together to form a true image of who we really are.
You can do your job successfully for years, have one bad moment, make one bad choice, and you are the poster child for what is wrong with your profession. Some people are unable to live down or outlive the negative impression they left in a single moment of weakness or stupidity.
I thank God He knows our whole story. He looks at the photos of our lives from beginning to end and keeps every moment in proper perspective. We need to learn to do the same. We’ve all had bad days, bad times, and bad seasons in our lives. It’s called life, and we need to cut others some slack and show some mercy, just like God shows us.
As believers, we are not perfect. We should strive to do right, but we should not act like we “can do no wrong” even while we are doing right, so when we do mess up, there is room in another’s heart to forgive us and keep it in perspective.
Sometimes our self-righteousness leads others to root for our downfall, and then they “blow up” the snapshots or our mistakes, frame them, and display them for all to see.Then our testimony loses credibility with the very people God wants to minister to.
God told it to me like this; He has called us to live a supernatural life, not a superhuman one. We hurt, we get angry, and can make mistakes just like anybody else. They are just snapshots. How we get into situations is not the testimony, its how we come out that declares His glory!
We are created in His image, so let Him mold you to be like Him and others will see Him in you. That is an image worth saving. That is God’s snapshot.
Everyday God... 