Clarity
“but when the perfect comes, the partial will be done away.” 1 Corinthians 13:10
When – Do you have Job’s DNA? Are you a blood relative of the man who cried out to God, “Just tell me why”? I often think that the principal reason for the book of Job is not to resolve the issue of good and evil but rather to give us a broken world picture of the need for clarity. If you are related to Job, you will know exactly what it feels like to wonder why things happen. If you are related to Job, there will be moments in your life when you will say, “God, can’t you just give me some clarity about this? Can’t you just let me see what You are doing so that I have a reason to keep going?”
How many times in your life have you come to a decision point with this prayer on your lips: “Lord, show me what You want me to do. Just make it clear to me”? How many times have you gone away from that prayer still wondering? Mother Theresa said something quite profound about life on this broken planet. “In this world, there is no clarity. There is only love and action.” Paul tells us the same thing, but he doesn’t use big theological words. He uses the simple word hotan (when). We read this verse and immediately focus on the words “perfect” and “partial”. We forget that Paul is painting a picture of the time frame of clarity. When the perfect comes. It isn’t here yet. We are still waiting for that day of perfect clarity. It will arrive, but not yet. Now we have only a part of the view. We don’t see the whole picture. Our perspective is restricted. Yes, there’s a great masterpiece in the other room, but we only have a keyhole to look through.
Is this cause for despair? Do we get up from our knees, stumbling forward in the silence, discouraged because the answer did not come? Well, we could feel that way. We often do. But that would be like saying, “Yes, I see the Master painting in the other room. I sometimes see His hand and sometimes see a part of the canvas. But when I look through the keyhole, I just can’t see the whole picture. I don’t know what it’s really all about. So, since I can’t see it all, I guess it really doesn’t help me.” That’s keyhole vision. Clarity comes when you open the door and walk into the studio. In the meanwhile, there are two things to do: love and act. Love means trust the painter. Act means do what you know pleases Him.
Our culture forgets the faith of the Centurion. We are in battle. We are given orders. The orders come from the One Who has overcome death. They are reliable even when we cannot see the full battle plan. Faith is carrying out the orders because He gave them, not because I see what it all means. Love and act. Not love, evaluate, justify, debate and then, maybe, act. What does the old hymn say? “Trust and obey, for there’s no other way”. When the perfect comes it will all be clear. But until then, love, act and leave the consequences to God.
