1 Corinthians 13:12

1 Corinthians 13:12 – “For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.”

I’m a planner. I like to have a baseline for every big situation or event that I can mentally prepare for. Things can go differently, and that’s usually okay with me, but I need to at least rehearse things in my mind before they happen, so that I have something to compare to reality. A lot of people are the same way, and it leads to us feeling as though what we rehearse in our minds is what reality should be like in the future.

Yet, who are we to dictate what the future should hold? We are as temporary as anything or anyone in our lives that has been corrupted by sin (which is to say, everything but God). As long as we are living in that sinful world, we have no definite view of what’s ahead of us – only what’s behind. Spending too much time trying to look dimly into or past a mirror can rob us of current opportunities, leaving us stressed and disappointed. 

There is comfort in knowing that our view of the future is just as imaginary as our control over it. We need not worry about everything being in our hands – it is in much more reliable care! The Author has a plan written out, so let us not try and read ahead. Instead, we should ask Him for the strength and wisdom to carry out what has been written.

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