Through a glass darkly

For now we are looking in a mirror that gives only a dim (blurred) reflection [of reality as in a riddle or enigma], but then [when perfection comes] we shall see in reality and face to face! Now I know in part (imperfectly), but then I shall know and understand fully and clearly, even in the same manner as I have been fully and clearly known and understood [by God]. – I Cor. 13:12 (Amplified)

I caught my dim reflection in window laying on the floor in an abandoned house.

According to I Corinthians, this dim reflection is what we understand about ourselves, each other and our lives. We see only a miniscule bit of the big picture. Our lives are like a giant tapestry of which we only see a infinitesimal slice. And we only see the underside of that slice.

Only God sees “the big picture”. Only He knows “the end from the beginning”.

Tony Snow, George Bush’s late Press Secretary, wrote “…God relishes surprise. We want lives of simple, predictable ease — smooth, even trails as far as the eye can see — but God likes to go off-road. He provokes us with twists and turns. He places us in predicaments that seem to defy our endurance and comprehension — and yet don’t. By his love and grace, we persevere. The challenges that make our hearts leap and stomachs churn invariably strengthen our faith and grant measures of wisdom and joy we would not experience otherwise.…”

Just like Tony Snow, I’d greatly prefer a straight, level, predictable road through life. A road where we can see every step far into the distance. No dark valleys. No tortuous inclines. Plenty of money, perfect health for me and those I love, no grief, no pain, no frustration.

And then I’d think I could live life on my own terms, that I didn’t need God or anyone else.

Adversity could be called “growing pains”. Faith does not grow on level roads. It grows in dark, tight, mountainous places. Places where the glass is indeed dim and God’s purposes are beyond opaque. Places that I can only navigate by the grace of God.

What need would we have to trust if we could see everything? What need would we have for grace if we could walk alone?

Someday I will stand in the blazing light of Heaven. I will “know as I am known”. Until then, God intends to build my faith muscles through struggle and adversity.