"We don't yet see things clearly. We're squinting in a fog, peering through a mist. But it won't be long before the weather clears and the sun shines bright! We'll see it all then, see it all as clearly as God sees us, knowing him directly just as he knows us! But for right now, until that completeness, we have three things to do to lead us toward that consummation: Trust steadily in God, hope unswervingly, love extravagantly. And the best of the three is love." ~ I Corinthians 12:12-13 (The Message)
"For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known. So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love." ~ I Corinthians 12:12-13 (ESV)
"For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known. And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity." ~ 1 Corinthians 12:12-13 (KJV)
Do you ever have days in your life where you feel like the path is totally obscured and you have no idea where you're going? Do you ever have says where you feel like God is out of reach and no matter how hard you seek Him He is simply not to be found even though you know that in truth He is right by you side? I know that I do. And during those times, I find comfort in knowing that this is not my home, that the fog I travel through and the things I see now are only a faint shadow of what's to come, even though for now they may be all I can see.
A while back as I was struggling with these things, these verses kept coming to my mind. So, I looked them up. I got online. I looked them up in more versions. I took them to heart and was encouraged by them. The Message is not normally a version of the Bible I read; I realize that it is not necessarily a reliable interpretation of the Scripture. However, there are times when I like to see how it has phrased things, just for something a bit different, and this is one of those times I'm glad I did. I love the way The Message translation deals with this verse, and am inspired by it to change the name of my blog. So, I am changing it, and soon I will put together a new header, but for right now I'm simply going to change the title, and, probably the direction of this blog a bit. I have several posts mulling over in my mind right now that hopefully will find their way here soon (maybe once finals and school papers are out of the way for a bit). Until then, it is my hope that you will all "Trust steadily in God, hope unswervingly, love extravagantly."
I guess it's been a while since I checked your blog. I see you have a new theme and a new title. How's school?
ReplyDeleteAnd it's been awhile since I've written! School's going pretty well, but summer school is sucking a lot of my time at the moment. Fortunately, my classes are interesting. So, that's a good thing. :)
ReplyDelete'Do you ever have days in your life where you feel like the path is totally obscured and you have no idea where you're going?'
ReplyDeleteYes. And here I pray and study and hope for God's guidance.
Russ:)