Change Where You Stand

It is always a joy to be back in Chicago. Whenever I visit, I am reminded of the beauty and energy of this great city.

One of the city’s most familiar landmarks is Cloud Gate, better known as “The Bean.” People gather around its polished surface to see themselves reflected alongside Chicago’s beautiful skyline.

But the reflection is not always accurate. Depending on where you stand, you may appear taller, shorter, wider, or strangely curved. The image may be real, but it is distorted.

Life has its own distorted mirrors.

Sometimes disappointment becomes a mirror. We look at ourselves through what did not work out and begin to believe that we are failures. Sometimes criticism becomes a mirror. One painful comment stays with us longer than a hundred words of encouragement. Sometimes our past becomes a mirror. We remember our sins, poor choices, or missed opportunities, and we allow them to define who we are today.

But a distorted reflection does not reveal the whole truth.

The Psalmist declares: “I praise You because I am fearfully and wonderfully made” (Psalm 139:14). This does not mean that we are perfect or that our mistakes do not matter. It means that beneath our wounds, failures, and insecurities, we remain God’s creation. Our deepest identity comes not from what others have said about us, or even from what we have said about ourselves, but from the One who made us.

You are not simply the worst thing you have done, or the criticism someone placed upon you. You are a child of God, created with purpose, loved by Christ, and still being shaped by His grace.

When the image before you becomes distorted, sometimes the answer is simply to change where you are standing. Move away from the mirror of comparison. Step out of the shadow of yesterday. Stop viewing your life only through the eyes of those who misunderstood you.

Stand instead before God. Look at yourself through the light of His Word and the mercy of the Cross. Stand in God’s presence, listen to His voice. And remember: the clearest reflection of who you are is found in the eyes of the God who loves you.