Perfect Clarity

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

The other day, I was struggling to figure out how to respond to a situation.  My thought was I needed to encompass what God would want me to do.  Do I respond with God’s love and compassion, which was what I typically had done?  Or do I focus on sharing God’s word that might ruffle feathers but held true to God’s law?  Was there an answer that blends both God’s love and discipline that fits an equal balance?  I kept throwing thoughts and scriptures up in the air like a juggler with three balls on a tight rope.  Then, I paused and stopped.  Perhaps, it was not the time for me to answer at all.  I have this urge to respond immediately when presented with a situation.  The thought is the information and wisdom to decide is there, but sometimes, it is best to let God weigh in at the right time before responding.  That way, I would have the assurance that I am doing what God wants.  Not my own selfish thoughts.

It is ok to wait for clarity from God to ensure we are taking a righteous path.  When reading the verse above, it seems confusing.  However, it makes perfect sense to someone who is struggling with clarity as we all have those moments in our lives where we are unsure about what is happening around us.  Sometimes, it is emotion that is getting the best of us, and other times we simply procrastinate.  Our goal as Christ followers is not to make rash decisions.  It is to wait on God’s instruction, and when clarity is provided, act without hesitation.  Our goal is to trust in God for the path He lays in front of us never leads us wrong.  There we will eventually find clarity.

Only God is all-knowing.  One of the best lines I’ve heard about surety in God comes from a movie where a priest, answering a young student says, “Son, in thirty-five years of religious study, I've come up with only two hard, incontrovertible facts; there is a God, and, I'm not Him.”  God does not expect us to always have the answer.  But as my dad taught me, He expects us to figure it out.  It is the journey that matters more than the actual answer for in the journey we will find clarity of God’s will for our life.  That is what Paul is getting at in this verse of 1 Corinthians.  So let us not be either too quick to react or lazy to respond.  Trust enough to wait for God to provide clarity in your situation, and act decisively when clarity is given.  What decision should you wait for God to provide His wisdom on?  What reservations do you have when God wants you to act?  My prayer is that we have sound judgment to trust God to give us perfect clarity.  Amen.