Things Are Not As Bad As The Appear

1 Corinthians 13:12-13

There is an old adage that says, “You can’t see the forest for the trees.” It pertains to persons who have become so involved with the details of an issue that they lose sight of the larger more significan matter. How do you handle life when things appear so bad that you feel hopeless?

The Apotsle Paul wrote this passage to those who could not see the forrest for the trees and encouraged the reader to hold on to hope in hard times. 1 Corinthians 13:12-13 – “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. And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.”

This passage teaches us 3 things about life’s dissapointments:

We Have A Limited Look

“For now we see through a glass darkly.” It’s like Forrest Gump’s mother said, “Life is like a box of Chocolates! You never know what you are going to get!”

We Have A Lesson To Learn

“Now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.” The key words are know and known. Paul is saying although we have learned about God but we are not finished learning about Him. It is a life long process and one day all of our questions about life will be answered.

We Have A Love That Will Last

“And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.” One day faith will be no more because faith is believing in what you cannot see but when we get to heaven we will see Him face to face. Hope will be no more because hope means expecting what has not arrived but when we see Him face to face it will complete any expectations. Love is the greatest because God is Love and God is eternal.

Here it is! There will be times in all of our lives when lifes dissapointments surface and rearrange the furniture in our lives. Unexpected trials and tribulations can leave you scratching your head. Life can throw curves that cannot be anticipate but we must maintain hope that things are not as bad as they appear and that God is working something better for our good. We must learn not to see the glass half empty but half full, we must make lemonade when life hands us lemons. We have to learn how to look on the bright side and say un the words of Charles Tinley, “I know the Lord will make a way somehow!”

What do you do when you cannot see the true picture of your life? Life does not always present an accurate picture of what we see because we are looking through a glass darkly. There are obstructions in life that don’t always present an accurate picture but we must believe that when life looks bad God is up to something even if its in the dark. The truth of the matter is God’s sometimes leaves us in the dark.

How do you handle life when situations appear bad? How do you make the best out of a bad situation?

1. Keep On Living: Some people allow bad situations to kill them long before they are dead. They lose hope and allow the bad situation to be the nail in their coffin. However the child of God believes that problems are platforms for God’s performance.
2. Keep On Listening: When things appear bad make sure that you are tuned into the right frequency. Tune into station B I B L E! The word of God will give you faith to see life from a different perspective. Romans 10:17 says, “So then faith cometh by hearing and hearing the word of God.”[1]
3. Keep On Leaning: Be careful whom or what you lean on when life’s troubling situations surface. Proverbs 3:5-6 says, “Trust in the Lord with all of thine heart and lean not unto thine own understanding.” [2]
4. Keep On Looking: Never count God out of the equation but expect Him to show up. Hebrews 12:2 says, “Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith.”[3]
5. Keep On Loving: Why? Because love conquers everything and God is Love. 1 John 4:16 says, “And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.”[4]

We must remember to keep on loving because love conquers all and when we see Jesus face to face we will understand it better by and by.

Looking Towards Heaven!

Dr. Oscar T. Moses