Articles
Until We See Clearly
One day I picked up a piece of litter. It turned out to be an assignment from a college math class. Both sides were practically covered with calculations, figures, equations, and such.
Was it algebra? Trigonometry? Calculus? Math was never my strong suit, and I could make very little sense of these numbers and notations. But just because I didn’t grasp it doesn’t mean it had no meaning. It was only my ignorance that limited me.
Psalm 73 is a personal account of a man who was almost overwhelmed by a sense of the unfairness of life. “But as for me, my feet came close to stumbling, my steps had almost slipped. For I was envious of the arrogant as I saw the prosperity of the wicked” (vv. 2-3 NASB)
At one point he concluded:
Surely in vain I have kept my heart pure,
And washed my hands in innocence;
For I have been stricken all day long,
And chastened every morning (vv. 13-14).
Life as he saw it didn’t make sense. While the wicked were prospering, he himself was suffering, even though he was trying to live right. How unfair is that?! He was about ready to give up.
Later, however, he rejected this initial conclusion when he came to realize that the prosperity of the wicked is only for this life. In God’s good time He will bring them to destruction.
With this clearer perspective he was able to resolve his doubts. His final conclusion? “Surely God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart!” (v. 1).
Could it be that our doubts and worries are due to our leaving something out of our equation? Only after the psalmist saw life from God’s perspective did it all add up.
Even Jesus’ closest disciples originally miscalculated His mission. Many of Jesus’ teachings went right over their heads. In time they came to understand. Then they could see what Jesus had been trying to teach them all along. Finally, they got it!
What if Peter, for example, had given up on Jesus because he couldn’t grasp at first everything Jesus said or did? Jesus, he discovered, is definitely worth holding onto—until the fog lifts and the clear light of the Son illumines everything.
