Through A Glass,Darkly...

While in the early hours of this morning, I lay awake with a mind that would not stop working. While most times that is frustrating, I didn't feel that this time.  The Lord impressed something upon me that I feel I should share.

There are often occurances in life that cause us to question 'why', or desire, in some way, to see things more clearly or understand more deeply.  We all seem to want answers...to know it all.  Most often, we don't get the full picture and we eventually just move on to the next occurance.

This week, my husband had a cataract removed.  Even as he left the surgical center, and as he heals a little more each day, he's remarked of the clarity of sight in that eye. He was aware that his sight was 'fuzzy' in that eye, but was doing well using only his left eye. But, now, since the surgery, he realizes that the sight in his left eye isn't as clear as he thought it was. (It also has a cataract,but won't be ready for surgery for about a year.) After that, his eyesight  should be very clear. He can't wait!

Thinking about these things during the wee hours, I thought, 'Isn't that the way we are in life?  We think, most often, that we see things pretty well...until something shows up  that isn't as clear as we'd like it to be.'  We see 'through a glass, darkly' as it says in ICorinthians, chapter 13. The verse goes on to say, 'But then we shall see face to face.'  We, here on earth, see the Light, we see Jesus, but we see Him dimly, as we see the sunshine through sunglasses. 

In due time, in God's time, we will see Jesus... FACE TO FACE! We will see the Light with such brilliance! We will have clarity in all things! Just as the cataract was removed from my husband's eye, the scales...the veil...will be lifted from our sight in that great and glorious day!  And I, for one, can't wait for that!

Loosening My Grip

There have been so many times when life has handed me a situation that needs to be handled in some way.  Since it's always been my natural inclination to try to fix things myself, that was often what I attempted to do. Of course, through trial and error, I'd quickly discover that my attempts were not successful. In fact, often I've only made matters worse.

Hanging on to something so tightly is almost like being in handcuffs, like being a prisoner. You really can't do anything in such matters, and trying to untangle things seems only to tie it in more knots.

At some point, and I'm not sure when, the words "let go and let God" hit me like a bolt of lightening.  Oh sure, I knew I should let God handle things...and I almost always prayed that He would, but I actually didn't let go of things, so how on earth could He do it?  I had my hand wrapped around the situation in such a way that there was no sign of release.

Whenever it was that I got that message, I did let go. I did give it totally over to the Lord.  Do you know what happened when I loosened my grip?  I realized that when I emptied my hands of that problem, God was able to fill them with something else....something good!  He filled them, and my mouth, and my heart....with praise, with thanksgiving, with gratitude.

There's no freedom like release.... ! Ask any prisoner who has done his time and has seen the doors of the jail cell flung open!  Loosen your grip....and let go and let God.