Then we will see everything!

I remember when my daughter, Emily, first got glasses.  She was around 11 or 12.  I noticed she had been squinting while watching television so I asked her if she was have trouble seeing.

She said that she wasn’t.

“Are you having trouble seeing the black board at school?”  I asked.

“No, I can see fine.”

This went on for sometime until I decided it was time to make an appointment for an eye exam and sure enough, she needed glasses for distance.

There is a moment that has been etched in my mind and heart.  We were driving home from the optometrist. Emily was wearing her new glasses.  As we made a turn onto the 401, Emily said,  “I can see the leaves on the trees! Oh, those are bricks on that bridge!” She was so excited.

To this day every time I pass that spot I think of that moment.  She was so excited and I felt like the worst mom ever for not catching it sooner.  The thing is, she didn’t know what she didn’t know. She didn’t know what she wasn’t seeing. When she put on her new glasses, everything became clear and in focus. It was as though she was seeing for the first time!

In Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians, Paul speaks of our hazy, unclear human perspective compared with a heavenly perspective: “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 NLT).

Paul’s illustration of a mirror was appropriate for an audience of Corinthians, as bronze mirrors were manufactured in the city of Corinth. Those ancient mirrors reflected less clearly than modern-day mirrors, but even modern mirrors reflect backward images that aren’t as clear as direct sight.

The Greek word Paul uses for “reflection,” αἰνίγματι, translates to “in a riddle” and is where we get the English word “enigma.” An enigma is something puzzling or hard to understand.

When we walk through the confusing times of our lives, we often long to understand the whys and hows and whens. Life can be an enigma. Yet the peace we seek from these answers can’t be found in the partial, earthly understanding we have available to us now. Paul speaks of a greater, perfect perspective we’ll hold in eternity, assuring us that one day the incomprehensible times of our lives will make sense, complete in purpose and perception.  It will be like Emily seeing through her glasses!

Until that time, how do we reconcile this with our spirits today, while we’re still in the throes of questions and confusion?

I believe the answer is to know and trust God’s character. We talked about 6 of God’s attributes in our most recent sermon series:

• God is merciful

• God is trustworthy

• God is loving

• God is Holy

• God is constant and,

• God is the God who sees me

As we spend time with God our confidence is God’s character will grow and strengthen. Day by day, hour by hour— we can release each confusing piece of our lives into the able hands of God, who is also Peace (Judges 6:24) knowing that the eternal God who sees you and sees the end from the beginning, does nothing without purpose! (Isaiah 46:10)

Live in confidence that you are loved by a loving God!

Tacos and change

In my house there is a deep divide over a fairly significant matter.  The split is over hard taco shells verses soft.

I love the crunch however others in my family don’t necessarily agree.  They will partake in the meal but inevitably criticism of the choice of hard over soft ensues immediately after the first bite when, without fail, the crispy tortilla shells crumbles under the pressure.

I put a lot of thought in building the perfect taco: cheese on the bottom, topped with warm meat, (so the cheese melts to ooey gooey goodness)  a layer of lettuce, tomato, more cheese, salsa and sour cream.  Oh I am getting hungry writing about it;).  It is perfect and then “crunch” the whole thing falls apart!

Life is often like that isn’t?  One day everything seems to be perfect, everything is on track and the next minute…not!

I was speaking with someone recently who shared with me a significant loss in their life.  The pain and emptiness they shared was palpable and my heart ached as they shared their sense of loneliness and lack of direction.  “I don’t know who I am without them.  One minute they were here and then they were gone” they said, “my whole life has changed in an instant.”

Change can be hard.  Change can be unsettling.

It happens all too often, and it happens to all of us in various degrees and sometimes it’s hard to catch up.  Sometimes it’s hard to know what to do when things seem to fall apart.

Where do we turn?

Who do we look too during these unsettling times?

The psalmist writes in Psalm 102:25-26

In the beginning, You [God] laid the foundations of the earth and the heavens are the works of Your hands. They will perish but You remain; they will wear out like a garment. Like clothing, You will change them and they will be discarded. But You remain the same and Your years will ever end.

In Malachi 3:6, God says this.  “I the Lord do not change."

The author to the Hebrew said, "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever." (Hebrews 13:8)

The world around us may change but God does not. God is constant

God is the first and the last.

God is the beginning and the end.

God always has been.

God always will be.

God is holy.

God is perfect.

And God promises to never leave us and never forsake us in good times and bad.

God knows you by name. You are a child of the Living God… and that will never ever change!

It is comforting for me to know that when things around me are changing at an uncontrollable pace that God is in control, always has been, and always will be.

I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.

Genesis 28:15 (NIV)

What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?

Romans 8:31 (NIV)

Grateful

This past weekend we celebrated Thanksgiving.  I pray, however you celebrated it, you were able to take some time to  reflect on God’s generosity with gratitude.

Our children, along with their spouses and our grandpups, gathered together for a meal on Sunday.  I was so convicted by my own preaching that I used our fine china!  It was wonderful and liberating and oh so pretty. (If you have no idea what I’m talking about check out last weeks sermon). It felt like a very long time since we gathered around a table together for a holiday meal.  It felt somehow different, it seemed more special to me, and not just because of the china ;).  I was grateful.

The passage of time is a funny thing, isn’t it?  It felt like such a long time since last gathering for a Thanksgiving meal and yet it feels like yesterday that I came to Amberlea.  I started my ministry with this very special church made up of extraordinary people ten years ago this coming weekend!  10 years!  And so much has happened in that time and yet, it still feels fresh and exciting to be there. I am grateful that God called me to this place.

I am also grateful to work alongside a Godly session, and for almost all of those 10 years with my dear friend, Nancy Varga, who shares my heart for families, community and Jesus.

Above alI, I am grateful that God is merciful, trustworthy, loving, holy and constant!

Over the past 4 Sundays we have been talking about the attributes of God, there are certainly more attributes than weeks in a year, so we will conclude the series this week. Please join us in person, Sunday mornings at 11am. It would be wonderful to see you!!  Or join us anytime, online!

I am so grateful for each of you!