by Kala Loptien

Peering through the Mist

You can listen to today’s devotion by clicking on this SoundCloud link.

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. 1 Cor 13:12 ESV

I read through this passage, using different translations. All of them are beautiful. Though we don’t often use The Message translation, the subtitle today is taken from that passage. Here’s the full verse:

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! 1 Cor 13:12 MSG

Our lens is quite blurry. Our vantage point is clouded. We don’t fully know, even though WE are fully known. It’s hard to understand why things go a certain way, why the bad prevails and the good seems silenced. We mourn for the broken and crushed in spirit. Our hearts break for the most vulnerable. (At the forefront of my mind this month is the sanctity of all human life.)

We don’t have all the answers. We simply cannot fully grasp it. But the good news here is that we aren’t meant to — not now, not yet. Our comfort and hope in the meantime rests in the host of promises He provides:

Promise 1: We know we were created in His image. We are His. Fully known and fully loved.

Promise 2: We know our world is broken and we are flawed, sinful beings. But we are redeemed and reconciled. His mercies are new each morning.

Promise 3: We receive said grace and forgiveness because God sent His son, who bore our shame and endured the cross for us.

Promise 4: He will come again in glory.

And that’s where we are. We’re not fully “there.” We know enough to stand firm in this: We know He is good, we are His, and soon, we’ll know Him fully.

Copyright Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Colorado Springs, Colorado