I was standing in a field of white.
Snow covered the ground, darkened the sky, burned my eyes. The blizzard veiled everything as a dark white scarf. I had lost my bearings. There were no visible landmarks. I couldn’t see a foot in front of my face. Disoriented, I stumbled around in circles looking for a shelter. The wind and snow engulfed me as a torrent, dulling my senses. Then suddenly, it stopped. The snow lifted. The wind was quieted. And to my utter disbelief, I was standing alone a few feet from my house.
You may have heard stories like this, a person stuck in a blizzard. Wandering around for hours, not realizing they were agonizingly close to the safety of their homes. The weather had blinded them to the reality of their situation. The wind had thrown off their sense of direction. The snow had obscured and stung their eyes. We are so used to depending entirely on our senses, when they are diminished, we are lost.
Life can be like a blizzard. We can’t see more than a few feet in front of us. The future is hidden from us. Our senses are dulled and obscured by the barrage of earthly difficulties and pleasures. We trust in what we can see, but our eyes, the windows of our soul, are dirty and veiled. We rarely see the reality of our situation. The reality of life.
“For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.” 1 Corinthians 13:12
The truth is that what we see now is not the entire picture. What we understand of existence is only a shadow of its true self. The Apostle paul writes that we “see through a glass, darkly, but then face-to-face: now we know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.” One day we will wake up from this dream called life and we will truly see, fully know. I dare say that many of the things we now value most, will seem as insignificant as the dust on our boots.
So how should we then live?
The answer has to be trusting and leaning on the one who holds the picture of the whole horizon in his view. The Lord knows that we’re lost without Him. He designed us that way. Ask him to walk with you. Depend on Him in everything. Pray and get to the place where you recognize His voice over the wind. Study the scriptures to see a picture of the true reality. Ask God for spiritual eyes to see. Lay down the pride that tells you you’re alright on your own. Ever look forward to the day when you will see Him face-to-face. In the meantime, live for the glimpses you see through a glass, darkly.
