In Chapter 11 of Dangerous Calling, Paul Tripp urges us to be aware of the danger of arrival and, at one point, uses carnival mirrors to illustrate:  

“Rather than humbly standing before the honest assessment of the mirror of the Bible to see myself as I really was, I looked into carnival mirrors. Now, the problem with the carnival mirror is that it really does show you you, but with distortion. You don’t actually have a 20-inch-highneck and a 6-inch torso; yes, it’s you in that concave mirror, but it’s not showing you the way you actually look. The danger of assessments of arrival greets everyone in ministry. The danger that you would quit thinking of yourself as weak and needy is always near. The danger that you would see yourself as being in a different category from those to whom you minister is right around the corner. This danger greets you every day because there are carnival mirrors all around that have the power to give you a distorted view of you. And when you think you’ve arrived, when you quit being convicted of and broken by your own weakness, failures, and sins, you will begin to make bad personal and ministry choices. The reality and confession of personal spiritual weakness is not a grave danger to your ministry. God has chosen to build his church through the instrumentality of bent and broken tools. It is your delusions of strength that will get you in trouble and cause you to form a ministry that is less than Christ-centered and gospel-driven.”  (p.152)

I’m wondering if we view ourselves as weak and needy?  Do you view yourself as different than those to whom you minister?  Have you begun to think that you’ve “arrived”?  Or do you find that you’re convicted of and broken by your own weakness, failures and sins?  Today, remember God specializes in using the broken and bent for His purposes, so rest in the Gospel that accepts you and, with the light of the Gospel pervading your life, LIVE!