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Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely. 1 Corinthians 13:12
I think one of the most shocking things about my illness was what we didn’t know!
The fatigue, the pain I mistook for muscle pain, the spot on my chest were caused by something laying beneath the skin.
Had I seen the whole picture, I would’ve responded differently. But as with a lot of other things in life, I simply didn’t have all the information.
1 Corinthians 13:12 concludes a portion of Paul’s letter dealing with love. We often call it “the love chapter” and portions of it are used in virtually every wedding ceremony.
The love spoken of here isn’t just between husband and wife. This love is to be for all people. Especially those belonging to the body of Jesus.
Paul doesn’t call us to understand. Paul doesn’t challenge us to get all the information before we respond to people and situations. Knowledge and wisdom will never be as powerful as love.
Don’t ever let yourself think you see the whole picture. You don’t. Only God does. Love isn’t based on what we know but on who we know. Through the work of Jesus on the cross and the power of the Holy Spirit within us God will reveal what you need to know in order for you to do what He’s called you to do, love.
Love one another patiently. Love one another when you don’t understand or agree. Love one another when you’ve been hurt. Love one another even when you can’t trust.
Someday we’ll understand, but today? Love one another!
“The name of the Lord is a strong fortress; the godly run to him and are safe.” Proverbs 18:10
I read a story awhile back about a couple who were hiking in the mountains. As they were walking through a beautiful mountain meadow a storm suddenly erupted.
The thunder was so loud it seemed to shake the mountain. Lighting crashed around them. In the midst of an unexpected storm they were vulnerable, scared, and helpless.
Then the rain and hail came. There was no place to run to. No place to take shelter. Then one of them noticed in the distance, a cave. More like a indentation in the rocks. But it offered them shelter in the storm. They ran to the spot and waited out the storm in the safety of the rock.
The Bible tells us that God is our shelter in the midst of a storm. When the enemies of worry, doubt, broken, relationships, or consequences from bad decisions attack us, He is the shelter that we can run to.
Three things I notice about this verse. First of all the shelter doesn’t take us out of the storm, it simply gives us protection during the storms.
The second thing is that we as believers in Jesus need to run to the shelter. We are not automatically protected unless we run to the shelter.
The third thing I notice, is that there is no particular place to run to. We don’t run to a place, we run to a name.
You can carry a name with you everywhere. It’s a shelter you have with you during every storm, you encounter.
Run to the shelter of the name of the Lord. He won’t take you out of the storm, but he will carry you through it.
“So you also are complete through your union with Christ, who is the head over every ruler and authority.”
Colossians 2:10
Have you ever set a goal for yourself and experienced the joy of seeing it through to completion?
You see it every spring during graduation season. Young men and women completing high school or college. Exciting times! A new chapter begins. All the hard work and time paid off! Bring on life!
You see it in the eyes of a bride and a groom, as they tie the knot, and promise to love each other for the rest of their lives. To share life together. To grow together.
You see it in the eyes of a young professional as he leaves the office of his superiors, realizing that he has attained the level of his career that he was hoping for.
You see it in the eyes of parents as they watch their children grow. Birth. Beginning of their school years. Graduation from high school and college. Marriage. And the birth of grandchildren.
All of these things and more tend to bring the thought , “Now my heart is full. Now I am complete.”
While all of these things are good, it doesn’t take long for us to realize completion doesn’t come in those things.
Graduation doesn’t guarantee success. Marriage vows, don’t guarantee, lifelong commitment. Our children take different paths than we hoped they would.
When bad things in life happen, it’s easy to play the victim. It’s easy to play the blame game. It’s easy to seek other external things that will make us feel complete.
But for those of us who are believers in Jesus. For those of us that have decided to make him Lord of our lives, we realize that our completion doesn’t come from anything here on earth. Not from success, not from relationships, not from anything life has to offer.
I am complete because of Jesus. Nothing I did made it happen. Nothing I can do will sustain it. Jesus is all I have ever needed. Jesus, is everything I will ever need.
Mike Fisk & Built with Grace 