How to Look Amazing

Near my home is a lovely canal, which is a great place for a walk. On a clear day I can be treated to a gorgeous spectacle, with the early evening light creating beautiful reflections in the water. The still water reflects the bright blue sky, white clouds, green trees, and colourful canal boats. I could stand and stare at it for ages, soaking in the beauty.

A better photographer than me would take a marvellous picture of it. Have you ever tried turning a photo like that upside down? Sometimes you can hardly tell the difference between the real scenery and the reflections.

Of course, the beauty is in the sky, and trees, and boats, not in the water itself. On a cloudy day, the water may actually look a dirty brown. But ordinary water has this hidden talent - a wonderful capacity to reflect stunning beauty and to become something very special.

Ideally, we would reflect Jesus in the same way. It’s His glory and beauty, not ours, but like the water, we are made with the capacity to reflect His beauty in our lives. Even you and I can become something truly wonderful.

What’s needed? Well water only has this stunning beauty when it is perfectly still. In the same way, we need to make space and time to be still in the Lord’s presence. Be still from trying to solve the problems we see in our life or in other people’s lives. Be still from rushing about like Martha, distracted by many things (Luke 10).

Then we can start learning how to do and say only what Jesus tells us to do and say. We don’t need to defend ourselves or to achieve things by ourselves.

Jesus wants us to be still in our spirit, like the weaned child in Psalm 131- learning to be content with Him and to rest in His presence like a weaned child with its mother. Like Mary, we choose to sit at Jesus’ feet and listen to Him - to read the Scriptures and talk with Him about what we read. In those times of listening to Him, our spirit calms down and we start to change, until one day we reflect Him, as the lake reflects the sky.