“Jesus replied, “You do not realize what I am doing, but later, you will understand.” (John 13:7 NIV)
So much of what Jesus does in our life doesn’t make sense until well after the fact.
I hate this truth, but love it at the same time. It’s story-writing at it’s finest. The writers of This Is Us – as talented as they are at weaving together a family narrative that spans a hundred years – well, they have nothing on the God of the universe. His story spans history. He writes not just my extraordinary epic, but yours also. And your family’s and my family’s, and the guy sitting at the traffic light next to you on the way to work, and the bank teller that deposits your check and the postal worker that delivers your mail and that kid that bullied you in second grade. Our sovereign, omniscient, omnipresent and omnipotent God is intricately involved in the day to day workings and the long -term story of each and every person who has or ever will exist. He’s working it all out for His glory because ultimately, it’s His story. If we don’t understand it, it’s because we are are still too close to it, too tied up in it to see the bigger picture.
When we are there, stuck in the thick folds of our own page turns, it helps to pull back a bit and look for evidence of His faithfulness. We can perhaps see it in our own narrative a few years back, but we can also broaden the scope of our search to include human history. Either way, we’ll find the faithfulness of God. It’s simply who He is. Entirely faithful. Faithful to the very core. If we could biopsy God and put a sample on a glass slide under a microscope we would find faithfulness in every molecule. Faithfulness is His very DNA.
If you are struggling in your story today, it’s ok. God can handle your doubts. You can ask Him your questions. You can request that He personally reveal His faithfulness to You. But then, buckle up, because He will unload a history lesson that will leave you weak at the knees. His track record is flawless.
“Where is anyone as might as You, O Lord? You are entirely faithful.”
(Psalm 89:8 NLT)
Lord, please help us see You today, in the pages of our story. Give us opportunities and a heart to identify Your faithfulness through the ages and in the day to day as well. We know You are unwavering in Your love for us. Amen.