Monday, February 01, 2010

Through a glass, darkly...


Last month, my family had the opportunity to take a peek at our newest family member, Anna Beth.  The amazing technology that exists today allowed us to see all her internal organs, her bones, and that she is a girl.  It really was a special time for our family to be able to see the unseen perfection that God is working inside my body to sculpt and form her into His image.

Even though we could see her tiny feet and the wonders of the workings of her four-chambered heart, we could not distinguish Anna Beth’s facial features.  We couldn’t see what color her hair will be.  We won’t know until later what color her eyes will be, but for right now, none of that really matters.  What we did see is that nothing was out of the ordinary.  We are going on faith that the ultrasound technician was right in the things she did observe.  She saw that all the organs were there and functioning.  She saw that all the bones were present and properly formed.  To put it simply in Biblical terms, “For now we see through a glass, darkly, but then [at birth]face to face.” (1 Corinthians 13:12) 

It can be a little confusing or unsatisfying to look at an ultrasound picture if you don’t know what you are looking for.  It helps to have someone point everything out to you so that you know what you are seeing.  The same can be said of the mysteries of God’s Word.  Not everything in the Bible is supposed to make sense to us right now.  There are some things we will not be able to comprehend in our finite human minds until God reveals the truth to us.

However, there are some things that God intends for us to take His Word by faith, believing Him now and seeing for ourselves later.  All of God’s promises concerning the Kingdom of Heaven and what it will be like for us in eternity may not make a lot of sense now, but we are to believe His Word and share that knowledge with others.  After all, the Gospel can be intimidating to a person who doesn’t know what they are looking at or listening to. 

I am so grateful and blessed to have always had people in my life that were willing to patiently explain and teach to me the meaning of God’s Word.  If you have been fortunate enough to have a person in your life that was dedicated to helping you understand what you believe, pass it on!  The world could use a lot more clarity in our faith and in our focus!

God Bless You!--Lianne

7 delightful comments:

Christen said...

Thanks for sharing your heart!
Our pastor was just reminding us on Sunday how so many things about God are mysterious in the fact that they don't make sense to us and probably never will. We just have to trust that His way is the best way!

Marie said...

Sweet baby girl is on her way! I'm so excited for you. Isn't it amazing how God works?
I think we learn so much from our children and just thinking about every step going on in your body right now....every little thing that happens to create your new little girl just reminds us of how important we are to God that he would be so gentle and deliberate in our creation. Thanks for this testimony!

Wade's World said...

Thank you for sharing this post today. I needed it.

I'm so excited for your family and can't wait to see the face to face pictures of Anna Beth!

Jill said...

I can't wait to see your sweet baby girl! Sonograms absolutely amaze me. Great post.

jasonS said...

That's a great analogy. Ultrasound pictures have always confused me. When people show me and I keep saying I can't see it, they'll keep saying "right there, see it? see it?" until I give up and just say I can. :) Totally unrelated story, but thanks for letting me share!

Rachel said...

Great post!! Ultrasounds definitely pique our excitement to see the "real thing" - just like the Bible should do for seeing God!

Awesome thoughts - thanks for sharing!

Anonymous said...

It's so exciting when you get to see your little miracle growing inside of you! Love the post.