The Magnifying mirror

Does the title of this blog conjure a feeling of horror? The very idea of things looming large can be a scary thought, especially when it involves looking in the mirror. I should say, especially when it involves a magnifying mirror.

Years ago I was visiting a friend who mentioned she had recently purchased a magnifying mirror. “What a discovery!” she said. I questioned what she meant. “Just wait,” she replied, “I’ll show you.” She then retrieved her magnifying mirror and held it up to my face. I could have screamed! I will spare you details of what gigantic things on my face jumped out of the mirror nearly scaring me to death, but it was a wakeup call. I will admit I immediately went to the store to purchase stronger tweezers and my own magnifying mirror.

There is a verse, not scary at all, in Psalm 34:3 that says, “Oh magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt His name together.” The Hebrew word for magnify means to make great. When I look in the magnifying mirror, I am also making great, what the mirror reveals to me. How do you and I make great the Lord? The rest of the verse tells us: exalt Him or praise Him together. There is power in our individual praise to God. There is magnifying power when we praise Him together.

Haven’t you been in a church service when songs of praise and hymns were being sung to our Heavenly Father? Didn’t your heart swell with the greatest of joy; the sweetest of affection and love for God? To praise His name reminds us of who He is and of all He does for us, even through us. To magnify or make great His name together, brings to the forefront, steadfast assurance that with our God nothing shall ever be impossible. We can swim through rivers of grief, climb mountains of difficulty, remain unmoved in storms of fear.

We must praise His name in our alone times to know the sweet intimacy of His presence with us, and we must magnify His name together with our brothers and sisters, to overflow in blessings of greatest joy and courage that lives in the midst of praise.