Life Is a Learning Adventure
A Young woman asked me to help her decide if she or her husband was right about an issue. Both were sure that God had told them the answer to their dilemma, but their “words from God” were different.
We talked and concluded that it is often difficult to be really clear about what God is saying. The way we see God is obscured, in part, because he doesn’t reveal all of himself to us this side of heaven.
The mirror 1 Corinthians 13:12 mentions would have been made of metal, probably bronze.
The people of New Testament times polished the metal until they could see their reflections, but even then they would have been blurry and discolored.
God tells us that we see him with the same lack of clarity that using such a mirror would produce. We are limited in our knowledge of him.
This reminds me of the early years of my marriage to Steve. We met, fell in love, spent lots of time together, and married after being pretty sure we knew each other very well.
As our day-to-day life unfolded, though, I was so often surprised at Steve’s reactions, responses, and ideas. I’m sure he felt the same way. We had seen each other as a poor reflection in a polished metal mirror.
Our marriage is not unusual. Couples learn new and wonderful (sometimes, not so wonderful) things about their mates for many years as they grow together.
And as they learn, they can enjoy each other more and more. Even now some of the new things we discover about each other after thirteen years of marriage still surprise us.
This continual revelation makes life an adventure.
Our adventure with God through the years reveals more and more about him also. We grow closer to him and understand more of his Word.
And then, when he comes back we will experience knowing him and being fully known. We will see God face-to-face. How amazing to contemplate that God is willing to reveal all of himself to us.
Sometimes when he seems distant or his Word seems hard to understand, it may be helpful to look with a long view to the time when the reflection of God that we see now will be crystal clear. Any confusion we have about who is hearing him more accurately will be gone.
In the meantime, we do the best we can to reason together, pray, seek counsel, and make decisions with open hearts toward one another—rather than debating who is right and who is wrong!
Father, we look forward to the day when we will be fully in your presence. Thank you for the glimpses now that give us a taste of the future.