The Woman In The Mirror
Wearily, she pushed back the worn, musky-smelling bedcovers
and willed her feet to touch the cold, bare floor. She sighed, and
as though in a trance she made her way down the long, dark hall
to the bathroom mirror.
As she reached up and tugged at the dirty string, dangling from
the naked bulb, exploding light momentarily blinded her. She
winced and held her eyes closed tight until she could adjust to the
harsh, glaring light.
When she opened her eyes, she gasped at the face of the stranger
who stared back at her. Her cheeks were sunken in; her eyes were
empty-looking and sad. This stranger bore a faint resemblance to
someone she used to know, but who was she? As the woman gazed
more intently into the mirror, she realized that she was staring at a
reflection of herself...the woman she had become. Bitter tears ran down
her face, like water at the sink where she stood.
Questions began to prod her mind, each one demanding an answer...
questions like, "What are you doing here?" "How are you going to get
out?"
In a split-second of time she was no longer a tormented woman
struggling with shame and regret. She was an innocent little girl,
standing at the altar of a small country church, with the other girls and
boys of her Sunday School class. With joy and conviction she sang
with them:
"Yes, Jesus loves me! Yes, Jesus loves me! Yes, Jesus loves me!
The Bible tells me so!"
The scene vanished, forcing her to stare, once more, at reality.
New questions began to invade her mind...
"Could it be that Jesus still loves me? Could it be that He is the way
out of this mess I've made of my life?" And, "Could it be that He is the
only way?"
A shiver of new energy ran through her used and discarded body; like
an electrical current it revived her soul.
Hope stirred in her, and the woman in the mirror knew she was going
to make it.
As she turned and walked from the room, her singing heart beat fast to
the rhythm of four little words that were dancing around in her head....
"Jesus is the Way! Jesus is the way!"
..."I am come that they may have life, and have it to the full."
John 10:10 (NIV)
Copyright © '86 Barbara Thompson Young
