Shine Like The Moon

I’m one of those early to bed, early to rise kind of people. My family jokes about the fact that I turn into a pumpkin as soon as the sun goes down! One of the things I like about this fact is that it makes traveling to different time zones fairly easy for me. Since my internal clock lines up with the rising and setting of the sun, I don’t struggle as much as others when the numbers on my clock don’t match what time my body thinks it should be.

One of the things I don’t like about going to bed so early? I often miss out on seeing the stars light up the night sky and the expanse of the moon replacing the sun’s glow.

On those rare occasions that I am out and about after dark, I’m always memorized by the moon and stars, especially when I’m in Oklahoma where the sky just seems to go on and on forever! I can walk back to the field behind my kids’ house, watch the fireflies and stare at the multitude of stars in the sky. I imagine the conversation that God had with Abraham when He promised to make him into a great nation with more children than there are stars in the sky. It’s breath taking and awe inspiring all at the same time!

A full moon will literally stop me in my tracks. Especially when it first starts to rise over the horizon. There are times it can feel so large and close that I could almost touch it! But the moon isn’t always full. More often, it is a sliver of light shining among the stars. The moon hasn’t changed it’s shape, the position of the earth has just changed how much of it we can see.

As I think about the people that come and go through my life, I’m reminded that different people see different parts of me. My closest friends and family see all of me – my short comings, my failures and my successes. Those friends and people that I interact with fairly regularly, like at church or other regular outings, see a little less of who I really am. They probably see more of the happy, easy-going side of me and rarely see me sad or discouraged.

The interesting thing is that I’m the same person, it’s just that people see me differently because of their perspective. It’s like the moon; at different times I see different parts of it, but its still the same moon. Very few people get to really see me for various reasons. Sometimes it’s out of my own self preservation, other times its just that we haven’t spent enough time together for someone to get to know me and see all the bits and pieces of my personality.

There are times that having parts of me hidden to others can be helpful. For example, when someone tries to manipulate me or hurt my feelings for the sole purpose of making me upset. I’m thankful that those broken pieces of me are hidden so others can’t see the damage they may inflict.

That may not be the healthiest way to approach some people, but I can’t help but feel that God gave each of us a built-in filter to keep us from walking around always broken and bruised. When we do that, we focus on ourselves, how broken we are and how the world is treating us. We get into a “woe is me” mindset, spiraling into a self-absorbed mush of feelings. All we see is ourselves, our situation, our faults and the unfair way others are treating us. And that is definitely not God’s plan for us!

When I’m tempted to focus on myself and the hurts (real or perceived) that others inflict on me, I’m taking away from the lessons God wants me to learn. Or the understanding He wants to instill in me that this person who is lashing out is really hurt and wounded and He has placed them in my path so He can use me to help them. There is more to this person then I can see…just like the moon!

Its so reassuring to know that, as humans we all have our own “stuff”; sometimes we let people in to see it and sometimes we don’t. But there is a great, gracious and loving God who sees every single part of me all the time. He sees my bumps and bruises but loves me anyway. He hears my unkind thoughts and snap responses to others but loves me anyway. And even when I only allow the world to see that tiny sliver of all that I am, God sees me..all of me…and He smiles as I stumble through life, constantly reaching out to my loving Father so He can help get me back on track.

So here is my lesson for today: I need to shine like the moon! I need to shine like the moon does when it’s full, knowing that my loved ones love me, warts and all. I need to shine like the moon when it’s covered by the shadow of the earth so that only a part of it shows, and I need to shine like the moon when only a small sliver or a total eclipse keeps others from seeing who I really am. God loves me just as I am, so that should be more than enough for me to feel like I’m good enough for any human that may try to throw a little shade my way!

We are like the moon. People only see bits and pieces of us, but God sees all of us all the time.