A Third Now

. . . now we see through a glass, darkly (KJV)

Now we see but a poor reflection (NIV)

. . . now we see in a mirror dimly (NASB)

I sometimes wonder what it would be like to see everything clearly. With perfect perspective from every angle. Completely understanding the issues in the foreground of my life without losing any clarity with the things that are in the distance or in the background or around the edges.

There will come a time when I will see the Lord face to face. There will come a time when I will know things . . . understand things . . . truly and completely, just as I have been known and understood by Him. There is comfort in that. But if Father had left me with only that . . . peering intently into things that I cannot fully see . . . I think I would despair.

There is however, in the closing verses of 1 Corinthians 13, a third “Now.”

Now I see through a glass darkly.
Now I know in part.
But now faith, hope, love.

Perfect. Father’s ways are always perfect. Some things He clouds. Some things He cloaks. Some things are mysteries unrevealed. But in our groping through the fog . . . and in our questioning through the confusion . . . and in our heart-wringing through the pain or strife . . . He stands with His hand extended. He gives faith. He gives hope. He gives love.

Sometimes we cannot understand.
But we can believe.
And if we turn our eyes from searching . . . and peer intently into Him . . . we will find more than enough to sustain us.
To more than sustain us. His Word assures us of this.

I have seen.
It is true.

For now we see in a mirror dimly,
but then face to face;
now I know in part,
but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known.
But now faith, hope, love, abide
these three;
but the greatest of these is love.
1 Corinthians 13:12-13 (NASB)

Psalms 46:10-11
Lesa K. Reid