Now and then most of us wonder (usually with frustration and anger) about why things are the way they are. But here’s what scripture says: “For we know in part.”1 In other words, we don’t know everything. And we won’t know everything until “then.” When is “then”? When we will see Christ “face to face.”2 So until “then,” what do we do? Well, we should stop acting like children! 😫 You know, those kids who incessantly whine and want to know Why? and Why not?
Why else would Paul mention children in the middle of this chapter? He writes, “When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways.”3 We adults know that children don’t know everything, but they don’t know that! They think they do! And that’s why they complain when things don’t go their way. They think they know everything! We adults, however, should know that we don’t know everything—and be okay with that. And not whine and complain like children but instead, give “up childish ways.”
That’s the challenge—to stop asking Why? and just trust that God knows what he is doing. 🙄
But let’s get back to this “now and then” idea. “For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face.”2 What we know now is described as an image that is dim. Other translations use words like “darkly,” and “obscurely,” and “indistinctly,” and even “blurred.” At any rate, it is clear that we do not see clearly. 😎 We look in a mirror and think that is what people see, but it isn’t! We cannot see what others see because the mirror image is not a true one. The truth of the image is actually the reverse of what we see, but it is all we can see! Of course, you can get a better mirror! It’s called the True Mirror. Seriously. It is constructed so that you actually see yourself as others see you! For a mere £295, you can purchase it! But I wonder . . . would I be disappointed with seeing how others see me? Probably. 😒
That’s why we should just rely on how God sees us. Which is this: “See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called the children of God; and so we are.”4 We are God’s children. He sees us as family. He loves us more than anything! 😀
And it is best that we trust that God sees everything clearly because our perception of things cannot be trusted. We really don’t know much at all. So, what do we know? We know that “then I shall know fully . . .”2 That one day—not now but then—I will understand. That’s hopeful. But keep reading . . . “even as I have been fully known.”2 God (who knows everything) knows us better than we know ourselves! He knows us “fully”! He sees us as we really are now. And amazingly still loves us! And love? Well, that’s the greatest thing of all! 😁 Better than faith and better than hope.
You see, we don’t have to see everything or understand everything or know everything. God knows what we need. And that’s all we need to know. 😉
11 Corinthians 13:9 21 Corinthians 13:12 31 Corinthians 13:11 41 John 3:1
