Living with Your Mistakes? Look to the Moon's Example. - Inspiration Photography & Christian Devotions
One Saturday evening, the night sky was too clear to pass up. So, I headed out the door with my camera and tripod in hand to practice a little night sky photography. Looking up with the naked eye, the moon was glowing a beautiful, bright white; majestically lighting the sky with an angelic halo of light radiating from its surface. As I admired the moment and captured a few wide angle shots, I decided to zoom in to put the full moon into focus. What I saw was still a beautiful object, but zooming up close I could plainly see the crevasses, craters, and imperfections of the moon’s surface. This glance made me take a moment and contemplate my relationship with God. How can I go to God when living with mistakes and not letting go of the past. Even using scripture from the Bible I can’t seem to find relief some days. It was then, looking at the moon, that I saw how Jesus’ radiance reflects from me. His light shines so brightly that it hides my flaws and imperfections; letting my light shine. Like the moon with the sun, I am a reflection of God’s light!
“For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light” Ephesians 5:8
Truth of God’s Light
God is so commonly referred to as “the Light” that we previously wrote an entire article about the significance of this comparison. God’s radiance shines on all of the darkness in the world and the more His light shines, the less darkness can prevail. So, inviting God’s light into our own hearts will illuminates the darkness in our life and eradicate the shadows in our soul as we grow closer to Him.
The moon is the perfect example of this.
Our Countless Flaws and Mistakes
As we look at the moon up close, we can see a bit of ourselves in this ancient lunar body. You can see the battle scars and wounds of the past; proof of the difficult life our moon has lived. But the moon has a great purpose and those battle scars and imperfections display the countless times the moon has protected Earth from a barrage of meteors. The flaws we see on the moon’s surface are a part of the moon’s story. It wouldn’t be what it is without these painful imprints. Just like us, the moon has a painful history.
Light Outshines our Flaws
When you take a step back and see the moon from a human point of view, we don’t see the flaws but a beautifully lit night sky. The brightest light in the galaxy (the sun) reflects off the moon’s dusty surface and hides those flaws from our vision so we only see its radiance. The moon glows so brightly that we can see rings of light past its surface, shining beyond itself back onto the world, lighting our path even in the darkest nights.
It is this way for me and you. We have our scars, some on the surface and some deep in our core that we try to hide from the world. These are things from our past that we cannot change but they shaped us into who we are. God’s purpose is beyond comprehension and He can take the most painful events and use them for good. He didn’t cause these events. And just like the moon protests Earth, God interfering could cause much worse destruction somewhere else or for someone else. He knew you could withstand the barrage, but He was right there suffering with you. You have the scar, but God will use that experience to help countless others. That is just how He works.
“But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.” 1 Peter 2:9
This Little Light of Mine, Let it Shine!
When you invite him into your soul, no one will see the pain and mistakes you have made because His grace will shine too brightly. His radiance will blind everyone’s eyes to your flaws, they will just see His glory in you. The more we let Him in, the brighter He shines; the more mistakes His glory covers.
Instead of focusing on changing our past or reliving the moments we regret, let’s be a reflection of God’s light. If I had one wish for myself, I would want to be like an old roll of film, for God. Don’t put me in the darkroom to develop, pull my negatives out in the bright sunlight. I want to be so overexposed in God’s glorious light that no detail of myself can be seen. Every frame is just God’s bright light, one after another. When anyone looks at us, they don’t see our victories or our failures; they just see God’s glory.
Written by Jon Frederick, Lead Photographer and Co-Author of Immersion: An Inspirational Christian Photography Collection.
Jon is an internationally exhibited fine arts photographer, blog contributor, and published Christian author. Along with his wife, Kathleen, they are the founders of Seven11 Photography and co-authors of “Immersion: An Inspirational Christian Photography Collection”. “Immersion” is the first devotional of its kind to combine “faith-inspired” photography with individual messages of Christian encouragement, creating a more immersive study you can read, see, and spiritually feel. Their goal is to help fellow Christians deepen their relationship with God by creating studies that go beyond written words. If a picture says a thousand words, this unique approach reaches deep into your thoughts, memories, and emotions, through visual engagement, to deepen your study and actively strengthen your relationship with Jesus Christ.
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